RWBY Rare Pair Week
by FandomPariah
Summary: A collection of one shots written for RWBY Rare Pair week featuring various unlikely pairings that I still managed to find ways to make work and now unironically. (Enter rare pair hell if you're brave enough.)
1. Blind Fury

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

 **Chapter 01: Blind Fury**

 **Prompt – Dust/Semblance**

 **Ship – Fox Alistair x Yang Xiao Long**

Fox Alistair had a vastly different interpretation of the world around him to most people, his Semblance showed him his surroundings as a constant stream of rippling sound waves and glowing shapes with blurry indistinct edges indicating heat signatures as his thermal imaging and echolocation were superimposed on top of one another in place of sight. Currently his path was illuminated by the central heating of the corridor he was strolling down giving him a clear idea of where the walls were combined by the reverberations of his own footsteps which he made a conscious effort to quieten as he approached his destination. Fox was currently supposed to be in a history lecture taught by Professor Oobleck along with Coco and Yatsuhashi, he'd managed to get himself excused from the lesson by claiming that he was feeling unwell and though he couldn't see the details of her face he could practically feel Coco's eyes boring into the back of his skull as he left. A small smirk crossed his face at the though, only to be swiftly replaced by a frown as he reached the entrance to what could best be described as a hybrid between a lecture hall and a colosseum that Professor Goodwitch presided over when teaching combat classes. Opening the door he slipped into the classroom as silently as he could, diverting his attention away from the cacophony currently taking place in the arena itself and searching for one of two people; apparently he had not been as stealthy as he had liked as one of them had found him first

"Fox what are you doing here?" Velvet Scarlatina demanded, her voice irate yet timid, as if torn between fight and flight at all times.

"Just thought I'd come and see how you're doing, Oobleck was waffling" Fox murmured, trying to form his usual customary smirk. Velvet quickly scanned the classroom and saw that Goodwitch's attention was firmly on whoever was sparring, as was the rest of the class's

"Come on there's some empty seats back here" she grabbed his wrist and gently guided him into one of the vacant spots in the dimly lit back of the room where they would hopefully avoid detection; Fox was normally incensed by any attempts to physically manoeuvrer him around but for the members of Team CFVY he made an exception, none of them babied him because of his disability. He made himself comfortable, sliding off his jacket and loosening his tie, he supposed it made sense to do that before finding the other person he was looking for. Cracking his knuckles in anticipation he scanned the crowd, searching for a heat signature that matched up with what he knew about the leader of Velvet's tormentors whilst trying to ignore whatever insanity was occurring in the ring despite the incessant flashes and waves that cascaded across his vision from that direction

"I know why you're really here Fox" Velvet told him bluntly in a harsh and accusatory whisper, arms folded across her chest and rabbit ears drooping forwards. He made no effort to deny it, Velvet was too good of a friend to lie to

"Yeah I came to meet the infamous Team CRDL and drag their leader kicking and screaming into that ring where I will proceed to break his back in so many places he can have his head up his ass literally as well as figuratively" he didn't need to see her face to know that the Rabbit Faunus was blinking in stunned silence at the sheer ferocity of his snarled threats

"Damn it Fox I asked you to let me deal with it my own way"

"Which is apparently by pretending nothing's wrong. Damn it Velvet they grabbed your ears, they assaulted you in public and nobody helped….this has to stop" Fox had been angry at the start of the school year when the first titbits of gossip about someone named Cardin made their way back to him, the whole team had been furious; since then Fox's temper had been allowed to fester until it reached its' current state.

"Please Fox" Velvet whispered "Please don't attack him, I'm not like them. I'm not like the White Fang" Fox was caught off guard by the intensity of her whispered plea

"Nobody thinks that-"

"Everybody thinks that" Velvet was having a hard time keeping her voice down, her own rarely seen temper rising close to the surface "They just push us and push us and the second we loose our temper we're just another violent Faunus that's probably in the Fang" That floored him, the scarred fighter was left speechless. Having spent his entire life being taught to never hit first but always hit back and his own personal experiences with bullying he thought he had a firm understanding of his friends' situation, apparently not

"I'm sorry"

"It's fine" Velvet sighed, rabbit ears drooping low enough to obscure her face "Let's just watch the match, I was never much of a fan of the tournaments but Pyrrha Nikos really is an artist" upon hearing that Fox grinned and focused his Semblance towards the arena itself. He was instantly stunned. Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl of Mistral was indeed every bit the prodigy the media made her out to be, graceful and powerful, each shot deflected by Akuo and slash with Milo causing the air to ripple and Fox's Semblance to be able to pick out the detailing on her armour for a brief moment at a time if her cared to.

He didn't care to.

His attention was wholly diverted from Pyrrha by her opponent, he'd never seen a heat signature like it before. Every fibre of her being seemed to be illuminated from within making her stand out in stark detail against the vague and ever shifting backdrop of the noisy classroom. The tall girl with the hair and eyes that somehow glowed even brighter than the rest of her and had shotguns mounted on her forearms in much the same way as his own blades appeared as though she was made of the light of a thousand small suns. Fox's jaw was hanging open for an amount of time he was unable to discern before Velvet nudged him

"You're staring….which is something I never thought I'd say to you" Velvet's hands shot to her mouth "I didn't mean it like that-" Fox silenced her with a dismissive wave of the hand and a smirk

"It's fine, you know the jokes don't bother me" and they didn't, he fondly recalled actually being able to feel Coco's embarrassed blush when, early in their first year he'd noted that he may not be able to see, but he could still hear her fake Rolex ticking.

"So Pyrrha put on that much of a show?" Velvet asked, Fox gave her an incredulous look

"Nikos?" he shook his head while indicating to the being made of light she was admittedly getting the better of "Who is she? She's amazing" His only was reward was the sound of Velvet giggling at him.

* * *

Team RWBY had awoken unusually early that Saturday and Ruby, in an effort to be the best team leader she could had suggested that they spend the morning either training or studying. Weiss had been in favour of studying while the caped girl herself had naturally been in favour of a more practical approach to self improvement. Blake had been ambivalent, leaving Yang to cast the deciding vote; which had predictably led them to the canteen in search of a suitably large breakfast for the gruelling workout the blonde brawler assured her still fledgeling team that she was going to put herself through, even if they didn't want to match her. A claim that Ruby vehemently denied the whole way towards the training facilities situated in one of the basement floors, above the forges that weapons maintenance classes were held in.

"PREPARE TO DIE!" the roared challenge from training room echoed down the corridor, stunning Team RWBY into silence  
"Sounds like some of the older students are sparring" Blake noted

"They sound like utter brutes" Weiss huffed

"WE'VE GOTTA GO SEE! THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME!" Ruby bounced on the balls of her feet and Yang couldn't help but laugh, her sister was trying so hard to be a mature leader, but she was still the same Ruby who asked Professor Goodwitch for her autograph

"Come on, I'm itching to give someone a massage and a facial anyway" she grinned at their nonplussed expressions before delivering the punchline "The spar treatment" she made it to the entrance with a chorus of groans behind her.

Entering she saw that myriad weight benches, treadmills, punchbags and other appliances usually found in a gym, each of them being designed to withstand being used by an individual with an unlocked Aura were sitting mostly unused while a small crowd gathered around one of the sparring rings in the centre of the room.

"I'm gonna warm up" Blake murmured as she passed Yang, apparently having little to no interest in the fight currently taking place despite the cheers of the small audience. Looking around she saw that Ruby was standing on a weight bench to peer over peoples' heads, Weiss eventually gave up on trying to reprimand her for it and followed suit. Arms folding her chest and an expression that the heiress would doubtlessly deny was a pout on her face. Yang made her way over and joined them

"Coco Adel is a master of her chosen style, plebeian as kick boxing is" Weiss huffed as she made room for the blonde "But her team-mate fights like a savage, no form no technique-"

"And Coco can't land a hit on him" Yang interrupted as she watched the vaguely familiar second year face against his much more recognisable team leader. Everyone who'd been in Beacon longer than five minutes knew of Coco Adel and it seemed that the legends were true, she really could fight without her beret being knocked out of place.

"But look at it! there's no sense to it!" Weiss seemed thoroughly disturbed by someone being so successful without a rigid plan

"Which means he can't be predicted" Yang countered, allowing herself to become thoroughly engrossed in the spectacle as the young man, whom she noticed had an impressive collection of scars, weaved under a series of punches in much the same way that she would have only to change approaches seemingly on a whim as he sidestepped and crouched low, sweeping Coco's legs out from under her and carrying his momentum through enough to perform a single handed handstand and kicking the fashionista in the back of the head while inverted; sending both her and her beret to the ground separately.

"Okay. Playtime's over" Coco breathed out as she returned to her feet, seemingly so far beyond rage that she had come out the other side and achieved enlightenment. Her opponent launching himself into the air and performing a double somersault before landing for no reason other than to show off if the cocky grin he was wearing was any indication

"Coco's about to copy him" Yang mumbled

"Huh?" Ruby looked confused

"Don't encourage her" Weiss muttered, Yang smiled brightly and finger-gunned

"She's gonna flip!" her amethyst eyes turned back to the match at hand before homing in on a very familiar mane of tied back deep red hair.

"I'm gonna go and ask Pyrrha for a rematch" she informed Weiss and Ruby, making the decision in a split second. She hopped off of the weight bench that the trio were stood on and began making her way through the crowd, making her way towards Team JNPR who were all in their usual combat gear which suggested that Pyrrha was going to face off against one of her own team, in public. Hit by a sudden idea Yang crept close behind them, leaning close to Pyrrha's ear while the Mistrali prizefighter watched the second year students with rapt attention, clutching Akuo closely

"So who's getting whooped for eating all the Pumpkin Pete's?" she asked right in Pyrrha's ear. She knew that Pyrrha, despite her public image as an untouchable and unflappable warrior, was actually easily flustered and startled outside of the arena. She was not disappointed, Pyrrha jumped out of her skin and Akuo was flung forwards wreathed in the darkness of her Semblance. There was a collective gasp from the crowd and Yang herself was left with her mouth hanging open; the shield hurtled towards Coco who was currently in the midst of a failed attempt to grapple with her opponent; said opponent detected the incoming projectile and in a single fluid motion moved himself between it and Coco, one hand firmly on her shoulder while the other shot out impossibly fast and snatched Akuo from the air before turning to see who had thrown it.

"Did he just catch that without looking?" Jaune mouthed in amazement

"Sorry" Pyrrha mumbled from behind her hands, looking as though she wished the ground would swallow her. These facts were lost on Yang however as she was getting her first proper look at the man Coco had been sparring with. His sleeveless vest displayed broad shoulders and muscular arms criss-crossed with the aforementioned scars and his coppery hair hung in front of a high cheek-boned face, framing narrow eyes whose pupils and irises seemed to blend into the whites due to their unnatural paleness.

"Okay which one you decided you just had to know what Gucci boots taste like?" Coco spat as she made to get around him. Yang's mind screeched to a halt as she realised two things in rapid succession. The first being that she had inadvertently caused Pyrrha to throw a weapon at a blind man and she most definitely owed them both an apology. The second was a very straight forward notion that she mouthed out almost silently, momentarily forgetting her surroundings

"Oh my gosh he's hot"

* * *

Fox sat on the roof of Beacon academy wearing the calm smile of someone who was truly at peace, someone who didn't know him would have said that he was utterly oblivious to the thunderstorm currently taking place despite the rain buffeting him and the irregular dull booms of thunder. Those people were vastly mistaken, the heat of lightning bolts illuminated the sky around them in his thermal imaging and the sound of the rain showed every detail of every surface. Fox Alistair wasn't just aware of the storm, the storm made him aware of everything. Taking a deep breath he allowed himself to absorb the breathtaking influx of information whilst pulling the coat that Velvet had insisted he wear a little tighter, the next flash of lightning allowed his senses to extend out towards the clifftops that loomed above the Emerald Forest

"Wow" he couldn't help the gasp that escaped him, storms like this sometimes overwhelmed him but he found himself sitting on the highest point he could reach every single time; enjoying a view that the same peers who pitied him for his blindness would never be able to comprehend. After a while another sound reached his ears; cursing, or rather a continuous stream of words that shared meanings with the obscenities Coco blasted the subjects of her ire with but weren't considered offensive in of themselves. Fox chuckled to himself as he recognised it as the tirade of someone who had younger siblings that they couldn't curse in front of.

Focusing his attention towards the sound below he felt his heart rate quicken at the sight of her, Velvet shared several lessons with the first years due to circumstances outside of her control and had told him that the young woman he'd found himself subconsciously homing in on was named Yang. Currently she was wheeling a motorbike along the avenue leading towards the academy itself, its' engine still cooling though currently not as warm as its' owner. Yang's Aura it seemed was a fire that could not be doused. Fox unzipped his coat as an idea hit him, followed by the sudden surge of bravery he needed to carry it out. Deciding to take the quickest possible way down in case he missed her he prepared his Aura and casually jumped off of the roof, landing in a crouch and steadying himself with one hand

"Super hero landings are apparently really bad for your knees" an amused voice informed him and Fox's breath caught in his chest for a moment as he realised she sounded as beautiful as she looked.

"I'll take it into consideration, can't be worse than initiation though" he mused as he rose to his feet

"Oh my gosh it's you" Yang gasped causing Fox to raise an eyebrow "I am so sorry about making Pyrrha jump and throw her shield at you"

"Oh that was you?" Fox laughed, that particular bit of gossip had gotten around Beacon in record time which may have been why Team CRDL seemed particularly uneasy when Fox made a point of sitting next to Velvet at lunch and staring directly at them, listening to their pulses skyrocket.

"Honestly" he shrugged "I was just coming to see if you need a hand, I could hear you having bike problems"

"You heard that?" Yang seemed somewhat embarrassed

"I heard the words heck and golly quite a few times" Yang actually let out a wordless groan at that, Fox gave her a reassuring smile "Older sibling, have to watch your mouth. Trust me I get it"

"You're the oldest too?" Yang asked

"Yep, Sabaku Alistair. Twelve years old and a little nightmare….I'd show you a picture but I don't have any on my Scroll, not much use to me" he shrugged before slipping the coat off of his shoulders and making the offer he'd come down here for "Wanna borrow this? I know it's a bit late now but it's still a pretty long walk to the garage" the parking facilities of the academy were indeed situated to the rear of the campus, presumably in an effort to make the front as photogenic as possible for recruitment posters.

"Thank you" Yang took the proffered coat gratefully and unless Fox was very much mistaken her cheeks had started to heat up, was she blushing?

"So" Yang continued "How come you're hanging out on the roof in this?" she indicated to the deluge around them

"Because my Semblance is a combination of thermal imaging and echolocation, in weather like this I can actually make out the details of things instead of just blurry outlines" there were a few seconds where Yang was silently processing information and Fox silently hoped that being told about his condition hadn't unnerved her

"So, you like what you see?" that was not the answer Fox was expecting and it took him aback, focusing his Semblance on Yang left him speechless. Outside of combat the fiery light of her Aura was muted somewhat, instead resembling a near infinite amount of fireflies. In the rain he could make out every detail of her, currently she was brushing rain slicked hair out of her eyes and treating him to a playful smile

"I….erm….yes" he managed to admit, surprised when Yang's cheeks heated once more, she was definitely blushing

"Come on smooth talker" she made to walk past him and Fox made to give her a hand moving her bike until she paused

"Hey I've just hand an idea, your Semblance works on heat and sound right?" she asked, Fox nodded unsure of where she was going with this. Yang took a deep breath, seemingly bracing herself for something

"Okay, I'm from Patch and there's actually always a big fireworks display on around this time of year; my family used to go every year when I was a kid. I was wondering if you might want to come?" Fox nearly choked on thin air upon hearing that, there was _no way_ he'd heard her correctly. After a brief moment he realised that Yang was still waiting for an answer

"It sounds like you're asking me on a date?" a broad smile crept across his face and Yang found her eyes drawn to his scarred lips "If you are it would be my pleasure"

"Then it's a date"

 **Authors Notes:**

Okay so the appeal for this ship was basically something I wrote in my story "The Downward Spiral" as a throwaway comment in a conversation between Team CFVY.  
Fox's Semblance _(In my stories until/unless canon confirms otherwise)_ is that he can see heat and sound _(I've described Fox as daredevil with a knife fetish before)_.  
Yang's Aura _(Her Semblance isn't actually related to fire but that's how it manifests itself visually, like Ruby's Semblance having nothing to do with rose petals)_ gives her a body temperature above most peoples', come on we all share the headcanon that Yang is basically a portable heater.  
The logical conclusion from those to facts is that when Yang walks into a room Fox notices, because he physically can't not notice her.

So to summarise:  
Fox using the central heating of a building to find his way around, I don't even know where that idea came from but I'm going to keep using it.  
I also refuse to believe that at least one member of Team CFVY didn't have to be restrained from choking the life out of Team CRDL.  
" _Nobody thinks that-"_ _"_ _Everybody thinks that"_ Did I accidentally twist a knife in some feelings there? Oops.  
Imagine Fox and Coco roasting each other, seriously imagine Fox going full Toph Beifong.  
Ruby Rose asked Goodwitch for an autograph. You know damn well that if there was ever a sparring match, hell an actual fight happening between the older students she'd want to see it.  
"The spar treatment" seriously, thinking up puns is the most rewarding part of writing Yang.  
I know Weiss comes off a bit bitchy in this but remember that this is still early Vol.1 Weiss.  
I always imagine Fox having a fighting style kinda similar to Tyrian's, albeit with less reach due to him lacking a tail and as far as we can tell any ranged weapons.  
The Yang making Pyrrha jump thing was half plot convenience and half based on Chibi. Headcanon that outside of an arena or battlefield Pyrrha lets her guard down enough to be easily startled and/or flustered: accepted.  
You know in Captain America: Winter Soldier, when Bucky catches the shield? Yeah that's what I imagine Fox doing with Akuo.  
Come on, as much of a Bumblebee shipper as I am; Yang was the one checking out the guys the night before initiation (Also who was she checking out? Team CRDL? Really Yang, really?) she would have no problem with admitting someone of any gender was hot.  
I was actually going to have the conversation about Fox's sister go on a little more but it didn't serve any real purpose. I might have her show up in another story (She was basically going to be Toph, her Semblance making her able to feel vibrations in the ground)  
Firework display date sounds pretty cute overall, and with Fox's Semblance it's actually pretty thoughtful.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.


	2. Red Tide

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

 **Chapter 02: Red Tide**

 **Prompt – Weapons/Aura**

 **Ship – Ruby Rose x Neptune Vasilias**

Ruby Rose, youngest student of Beacon Academy since its' founding had never expected to become the leader of her own team but had risen to the challenge, every single training mission or exam that Team RWBY underwent they excelled in.

That was the easy part.

Ruby in the politest way possible, not a people person; having very few close friends before her acceptance into Beacon, she had trained at Signal with a single minded determination that was both impressive to behold while at the same time leaving her unable to relate to many of her peers. Upon arriving at the prestigious academy Ruby had been fully prepared to undergo the entirety of her four years of intense study and training with nothing but her sweetheart, Crescent Rose and if the situation required teamwork her sister Yang. She'd been disillusioned of that idea very quickly when Yang had simply taken off and forced her to socialise; now Ruby found herself surrounded by friends and team-mates that she would do anything for

 _Anything except this_

She had reached her wits end and her ability to remain polite about the subject was being sorely tested. Blake was currently investigating the White Fang, seemingly determined to become a one Faunus crusade against them. Ruby knew that she should help for the sake of her most insular friends' well being, she'd indeed tried on several occasions only to be brushed off. Ruby was considering asking Yang to talk sense into her partner, because if anyone could it was her. However there was a more pressing concern in the young Huntresses mind, with Blake absent it meant she was left alone to contend with Weiss and Yang; two people who had very different ideas of what a party entailed who had, since Yang and Fox Alistair were dating somehow been convinced to organise the upcoming dance in Team CFVY's place, together

"Yang Xiao Long you degenerate madwoman, we will not be fitting smoke machines and we will most certainly not be using speakers that large!" Weiss huffed, breaking Ruby from her own internal condemnation of this exact type of behaviour

"Okay Weissicle, I need you to listen" Yang retorted with a grin "This is an actual party, attended by actual Hunters in training who actually want to relax….ditch the champagne flutes this isn't an SDC function"

"HOW DARE-"

"OKAY THAT'S IT!" Ruby snapped, cutting Weiss's furious response off before it could acquire enough momentum to become one of her famous tirades wherein Ruby was sure the heiress just invented new words to sound intellectually superior. Weiss and Yang were both silenced, staring at their team leader with wide eyes, Ruby never snapped

"I can't deal with this, you have driven me to insanity. Well done" she told them, waving her arms in a theatrical display to match the mocking tone. Before they could react she had grabbed Crescent Rose from its' place beside the laughably unstable bunk-bed she shared with her partner and vanished from the dormitory in a shower of petals, slamming the door behind her.

"Stupid dance" she grumbled to herself as she secured her weapon in its' customary place beneath her cape while making her way along the empty and dimly lit corridors without a clear destination in mind.

"It can't be that fun" she muttered, talking to herself as it seemed she was all out of reasonable people to talk to. Even Team JNPR were currently obsessed with the upcoming event "Oh sure, get drunk if you're old enough; enjoy the hangovers. Dance if you can, which I can't. Find someone to suck face with, yippee" with a sigh Ruby realised she really needed to let off some steam and she really didn't want to get caught by any of the teachers patrolling the halls, especially not Professor Goodwitch' _Although_ she pondered idly _It might be fun to see if I actually can outrun Oobleck._ Dismissing the idea, amusing as it was she decided that even though there was no way she would be able to make it to the Emerald Forest at this time of night the best form of catharsis available to her right now would definitely involve using Crescent Rose on something Grimm shaped. With that in mind she made her way to the training rooms, deciding to take a detour on the way. The dining hall may be closed but there were vending machines and she wanted cookies, quite frankly after listening to her sister and partner for that long she felt she'd more than earned them.

* * *

Neptune Vasilias tried hard to a be a good friend, a kind friend who listened to his teams' problems and offered advice and moral support; he really did. His ability to do that however was being tested to its' limit by a group of friends whom he was currently deciding on which order to strangle. Scarlet was absent, most people wouldn't think that this was an issue, most people weren't aware that Scarlet David had made it a personal goal to visit every gay bar in Vale before the end of the Vytal Tournament and routinely returned to the dorm at unholy hours in the morning either covered in hickies and wearing a grin that could best be described as 'shit eating' or ridiculously drunk and making an abysmal attempt to sneak whatever young man had taken his fancy that night into the room, attempts that without fail turned awkward when he tripped over his own feet and woke up the rest of Team SSSN. Neptune personally chalked it up to Scarlet coming from a very sheltered background and Haven Academy being his first real chance to experiment, Neptune also made a point of stopping those trains of thought before he could start wondering if Weiss was similarly open to experimentation.

A creaking sound across the room caught his attention and he dared to take a glance upwards at Sage Ayana's bunk which he was currently sharing with Arslan Altan. Mercifully the sound was just that of the pair readjusting themselves and making themselves comfortable; the pair had apparently known each other for years before moving across Anima to Mistral itself to attend Haven where they had progressed from friends to a couple. Neptune was happy for his friend but on more than one occasion the pair had gone from cuddling and watching something on their Scroll together to an intense make-out session; so utterly absorbed in each other that they forget that there were other people in the room. And when there weren't other people in the room, well, suffice to say Neptune had learned more in a single walk towards his dormitory about Arslan's sexual appetite than he'd ever wanted to know. She was _loud_.

"Nep, you still there bro?" _'Oh right'_ the blue haired teen thought somewhat bitterly _'Sun's still talking'_ in all honesty he had managed to tune out his partner until the Monkey Faunus's voice was nothing but a dull droning in the back of his mind whilst occasionally nodding in agreement

"Kinda" he mumbled before sighing and forcing himself to pay attention "What's up?"

"I was saying I'm gonna ask Blake to the dance, I'm just not sure how to go about it. She's been anti-everyone lately" and there it was, more of the same thing Neptune had been barraged with since reaching Beacon

"Just ask, don't make a scene out of it" he sighed before turning his attention back to his weapon, which he'd been polishing after making some upgrades to "Seriously look at Jaune asking Weiss out, do the opposite"

"I don't know man, I really wanna make this special y'know? Go for the big gesture….I'm even going to where one of those neck traps" Neptune felt his eye begin to twitch, he turned to Sun who as usual had removed his shirt entirely in the privacy of their dorm giving his partner a full view of his chiselled physique _'Which'_ Neptune thought to himself _'Is a situation we'll unpack at a later date'_. Pushing his questioning of his own sexuality aside he placed his weapon on the desk and stared Sun directly in the eyes, speaking slowly

"A tie is not a big gesture, you dumb-ass"

"Come on man, hey I've had an idea this'll be great" Sun grinned "We're partners, Weiss and Blake are on the same team….double date?"

"No"

"Bro why not? it's a great idea….you haven't asked Weiss have you?"

"No I haven't" Neptune admitted with a sigh

"But she's totally into you and I need a wingman" Sun insisted. Neptune merely turned his attention back to his weapon, deciding against going into specifics of why he hadn't asked Weiss or anyone for that matter to the upcoming dance, and was actually considering not going

"Can you let me work on this please?"

"Bro there was nothing wrong with your weapon the way it was, you're just being extra" And with that comment the last of his patience was spent. Collapsing the weapon Neptune holstered it and reached for his jacket before making his way to the door

"Where're you going?" Sun called after him

"Anywhere I don't have to hear about the dance" Neptune shot back over his shoulder

"Bro you can't leave me here with these two!" he knew that Sun was gesturing frantically at Sage and Arslan who were no doubt rolling their eyes at the situation

"Just climb through a window or something, you do it often enough" Neptune grimaced, that had sounded a little harsher than he'd intended. Hearing the door close behind him he strolled along the corridors for a while before a destination occurred to him, checking his pockets he saw that he did indeed have the temporary I.D that all of the transfer students had been issued with, a card that would allow him access to the training facilities at any time of day.

"Let's go see just how extra I am" Neptune gave a bitter snort before setting off.

* * *

Ruby deposited the empty packaging in a nearby trash can, the last of her cookies clamped firmly between her teeth as she approached the training room. Her expression become one of utter dejection when the sounds of a training exercise already taking place reached her ears, the one place in Beacon she could usually rely on to be empty at this hour was apparently taken from her. With a sigh she prepared to leave when something caught her attention; the training session currently taking place involved lasers, if the distinctive sound of the weapons was anything to go by it involved a _lot_ of lasers.

"Cool" Ruby whispered to herself, swallowing a mouthful of cookie as an idea struck her. She assumed that whoever it was in there, allowing themselves to be barraged by lasers was a more senior student. Ruby had barely seen any of the older students thus far, she knew of Team CFVY first through Velvet Scarlatina and then through her sister dating Fox. She crept forwards and opened the door to the training room silently, suddenly desperate to see how older students, perhaps even a final year close to becoming a fully qualified Hunter trained.

"What on Remnant" the gasp escaped her faster than she could prevent it. Standing alone in the centre of the training room while a dozen laser batteries opened fire on him was a first year student. Ruby instantly recognised the vibrant blue hair and tinted goggles, currently over his eyes of the Mistrali transfer student Weiss had been enamoured with, Neptune Vasilias. Ruby was left wide eyed and open mouthed, arms hanging limp at her sides as she watched the display Neptune was putting on. He remained near the centre of the room at all times though his footwork and manoeuvrability was stunning, his weapon twirling in his hands at a speed that would have made it near invisible to most onlookers and Ruby found herself discreetly triggering her Semblance to keep track of his movements; what was truly mind blowing however was the fact that the blade of the weapon was deflecting laser blasts. Each attack that connected with the broad silvery blade was hurled back towards one of the turrets with ease until a synthetic voice sounded out

"INCREASING DIFFICULTY TO LEVEL FOURTEEN" Ruby was flabbergasted, she hadn't even known that there was a level fourteen and almost squealed with excitement when the turrets began rapid firing actually forcing Neptune to start leaping and rolling aside as he couldn't hope to deflect them all. Ruby was too absorbed in the display to notice that when when Neptune avoided one of the blasts that it was streaking directly towards her.

Neptune was sweating profusely and would freely admit that he may had pushed himself a little too far with this training exercise, _'_ _But'_ he noted with a satisfied smirk _'The upgrade works'_ he rolled under a laser aimed at his chest before deflecting attacks from more of the turrets until the sound of a yelp reached his ears. His eyes darted to the entrance to the training room, widening when he saw falling rose petals some of which were burned to ashes. Without hesitation he shifted his weapon to its' gun mode and opened fire; twelve shots disabled twelve turrets with ruthless efficiency.

"Ruby?" He called out nervously "Ruby, you okay?" he scanned the several rows of raised seats around the room, picking out a red shape a split second before it vanished and Ruby appeared beside him

"THAT WAS SO COOL! LEMME SEE LEMME SEE!" Neptune was taken aback by her enthusiasm

"See?"

"You've gotta show me how you did that, you were blocking lasers"

"Oh that" Neptune rubbed the back of his head while shifting his weapon to the correct mode and holding it out for the younger Huntress to examine "I figured out how to make an alloy that can reflect lasers and completely coated the blades with it"

"That is amazing" Ruby breathed out, Neptune felt his carefully constructed and maintained image come crashing down around him as he blushed under the compliment

"Thanks, I just want to be ready for anything. I know Grimm aren't likely to have lasers but still….my team just think it's me being extra" Ruby gave a derisive snort

"We're training to fight monsters for a living. We got catapulted into a forest full of said monsters and had to fight our way out just to prove we're good enough to be here. We're going to be the heroes that the whole of Remnant looks up to….if you can't have the coolest weapon ever then what's the point?" Neptune couldn't help but laugh

"Sweet merciful Oum, I've had to travel across the ocean but I've finally met someone who gets it" he told her in a stage whisper as he removed his goggles. Ruby gave a lopsided smile, her attention still on the glistening silver blade of his weapon; the blade almost as bright as her eyes. _'And this is going to be my whole year isn't it'_ Neptune thought to himself irritably as he realised that Ruby was actually incredibly pretty _'All kinds of hormones'_

"Do you think you could show me how to make it?" Ruby asked, clearly fascinated "I'd love to be able to make Crescent Rose able to do that"

"Um, yeah sure….It'll probably take a whole day maybe longer, so I can meet you in the forge on Saturday if you want?"

"Yes" Ruby squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet with enthusiasm

"Awesome, it's a date" The words were out of his mouth faster than his mind could stop them. He stiffened up and Ruby's cheeks coloured, which did nothing to distract his attention from just how pretty she was "So, um, forgetting I said that….How come you're down here at this time of night?" Ruby gave a dismissive shrug and mumbled her answer

"I got sick of my team. This is the kind of thing we should be doing at Beacon, training and making our weapons better so we can be Hunters. Not turning into idiots over a stupid dance"

"I know right!" Neptune exclaimed, sometimes he really couldn't stop himself from talking. Ruby's eyes positively lit up

"Seriously" he continued "If I have to listen to Sun's latest plan to ask Blake out or Scarlet's ideas on how to spike the punch I will actually go crazy" Ruby was doubled over with laughter by this point

"Oh so it's not just Team RWBY then; but speaking of dumb ideas to ask people out did you hear about Jaune's latest attempt to ask Weiss to…..oh never mind" her hands shot to her mouth and she looked incredibly guilty

"Jaune asked Weiss out and she shot him down, again. What's up?" Neptune asked her, thoroughly confused

"It's just that I thought you and Weiss might be going together so…." she mumbled from behind her hands, trailing off into awkward silence, Neptune gave her a reassuring smile

"Nah, I haven't asked Weiss; she hasn't asked me. Honestly I was thinking of giving it a miss"

"If only I could" Ruby lamented with a sigh "Yang and Weiss or organising it, as their team leader I kinda have to show up; even if I'm not gonna enjoy it. Yang took me into the city centre last week and helped me pick out a dress; I didn't even recognise myself when I was trying it on and I can't walk in heels never mind dance" Neptune thought his next words out very carefully before deciding to throw caution to the wind for once

"I can't dance either-"

"But you're so cool" Ruby interrupted, Neptune treated to a bright smile; a genuine one rather than the toothy grin he gave almost on request

"Thanks, I try" he shrugged, trying to downplay just how hard he tried "But I've got an idea. You can't dance and can't get out of going. I can't dance and I'll get pestered by my team until I crack. So how about we go together? I'll even sneak in a copy of Remnant: The Board Game and you can try and win back some of your pride" he finished with a wink. Ruby was blushing profusely and he wondered if he may have made a mistake until the silver eyed girl gave him a mischievous smirk and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear

"It's a date"

 **Authors Notes:**

Okay so the appeal for this ship is based on me realising something about Ruby and Neptune: They're both total dorks. Neptune's weapon is a gun that shoots lightning which is exactly the sort of thing Ruby would drool over. Neither of them can dance and beneath Neptune's cool act they're both pretty socially inept.

So to summarise:  
People seem to forget just how Anti Ruby was prepared to be at the start of Vol.1 she was like a less angst-filled Blake.  
The one shots were all meant to be completely unrelated to one another, then in day 03 prompt I referenced this one shot and the previous one, so I added in the little mention of Yang and Fox dating. Putting (Most of) these in the same timeline.  
You know that Ruby thought about telling her team mates to just shut the fuck up at least once, admit it.  
Who would win in a race between Ruby and Oobleck is a question that I think we all want answered.  
Scarlet David has no concept of chill.  
Sage and Arslan is a rare pair I want to see more of, which means I'll probably have to write it myself….like some kind of writer.  
Shots fired in Jaune's direction.  
Okay quick explanation: I headcanon that Neptune is actually a Bi mess that's not even open with it to himself yet, the over the top flirting is actually him trying to compensate.  
Neptune's weapon is kinda extra, but that's what makes it cool.  
Shot's fired in Sun's direction. If he says something about Yang then he's three for three on blondes.  
As I said in the last chapter, Ruby would definitely sit in on older students training sessions and fan-girl over it.  
Yes I made Neptune's weapon able to deflect lasers like a lightsabre.  
" _If you can't have the coolest weapon ever then what's the point?"_ \- Ruby Rose.  
Poor Neptune, someone end his suffering.  
I was gonna have a scene at the end from Yang's perspective where she sees part of the conversation between Ruby and Neptune but I couldn't get it to work right so oh well.

Thank you to YellowMagicalGirl (The creator of RWBY Rare Pair week) ZswerberUnlimited, Tsuk1, FluffyFirefly, ShadowWolf, Treenymphie and BetterTitles for their reviews on the last chapter.  
All of of Team CFVY need more screen time.  
Yeah I won't be taking requests for these, they're based on the prompts for the challenge and all seven have actually already been written.  
If I make you start shipping any of these rare pairs my only answer is this: "Good, now go make some content for it because I want more of it as well".

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.


	3. Death Monkey

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

 **Chapter 03: Death Monkey**

 **Prompt – Nothing Bad Ever Happened**

 **Ship – Sun Wukong x Miltia Malachite**

In the first singles round of the Vytal Tournament Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina had put on a performance that almost redefined the term showstopping; the Mistrali veteran prizefighter and the Atlesian upstart fighting each other to a standstill for over half an hour, Pyrrha's flawless technique and Penny's mastery of her multiple blades that had left the arena around them all but obliterated until Pyrrha finally managed to win by ring-out. The fight was being declared by the various media outlets 'The battle of the century' with conspiracy theories already abound positing that Penny had been holding back the entire time.

The Second round had been much more brief, Pyrrha had entered the arena to face Sun Wukong; a match that surprisingly split the Haven students in the crowd; almost a third of them supporting the Vaccuan Faunus who'd moved to the Kingdom of Mistral over the native who'd left and chosen to represent Vale and Beacon. Sun Wukong had given it everything he had and it hadn't been anything close to enough, Pyrrha had proved in her qualification to the tournament that she could fight multiple opponents at once and while Sun may have been a better fighter than any member of Team CRDL his light clones were all limited, in that they only had access to his weapons and techniques rather than the diversity of an entire team. Pyrrha Nikos fought Sun himself and seven copies of the acrobatic fighter to the sound of thunderous applause, shattering one copy after another with brutal efficiency until only an exhausted Sun remained; at which point Pyrrha chose to be sporting and sheathed Milo and Akuo, the pair going hand to hand in a bout that the more experienced tournament fighter dominated. Sun had ended up being carried out of the arena on a stretcher, the cheers of the crowd and Pyrrha's apologies ringing in his ears.

* * *

"Hey Sun, you okay?" the door of the dormitory creaked open revealing the speaker to be Neptune Vasilias who entered and gave his partner a confused look "How come you're on my bed?"

"Couldn't climb onto mine" Sun admitted through clenched teeth, gesturing vaguely at his right arm which had been almost shattered during the match; his Aura being the only thing keeping his bones intact. Neptune winced sympathetically, Sun practised parkour as well as his highly mobile fighting style; it was impolite to say it but one expected nothing less of someone with five limbs, having his manoeuvrability limited to such an extent must have added insult to injury.

"Damn, you okay bro?"

"Wounded pride. I'll live" Sun growled out at the same time his Scroll vibrated indicating a text message, taking one look at the sender he placed the device face down beside him. He didn't want to hear from her of all people right now.

"So, some of the others are going out tonight. I think Yang wanted to celebrate so it's probably gonna be Juniors….she might be able to twist his arm and get him to let Ruby in as well so I'm going, wanna come with?" Neptune offered, he and Ruby had been a thing since the dance. It was hard to say if they were dating but they both thoroughly enjoyed each others' company.

"Nah I'm good" Sun couldn't help a smirk "Be careful though, if Ruby gets drunk Yang might add you to her body count….How did her fight go anyway?"

"Okay firstly the thing with Merc was a misfire and even he accepts it" Neptune countered defensively, he'd gotten to know the blonde quite well through Ruby and the accident involving Ember Celica malfunctioning had visibly shaken her, thankfully Mercury Black had suffered no lasting injuries, revealing that the round had only damaged an existing prosthetic

"And yeah her fight was over pretty quickly, she was up against that Atlesian guy with the armour" Neptune paused for a moment "I thought you'd have heard from Blake"

"I haven't heard anything from Blake" Sun muttered, that hurt him a lot more than he wanted to admit "She didn't see if I was okay when I got carried out of the ring, I mean her partner was next up so I get it but she hasn't even called….whatever, it's fine"

"Damn, hey if you wanna just hang out tonight I can let Ruby know I can't make it?" Neptune offered

"Go out man, enjoy yourself" Sun sighed, the Scroll vibrating again only to be ignored. As Neptune shrugged and made his way to the closet to pick out his attire for the night a thought occurred to Sun which caused him to scowl

"I promised Sage he could have the dorm to himself"

"Yeah but he won't mind" Neptune answered without looking away from the selection of clothes

"He'll be with Arslan all night and I don't think anyone will appreciate me being the third wheel, least of all me. So who's meeting at Juniors?" Neptune paused for a moment, grinning as he conceded Sun's point about intruding on their team-mates evening

"Team RWBY, so naturally Team CFVY are gonna be there" Sun nodded from his position laid on the bed; Yang Xiao Long and Fox Alistair had been dating for months after all. This combined with Velvet Scarlatina sharing some lessons with the first years led to the teams spending a fair amount of time together. Neptune continued talking "I don't think Team JNPR are gonna be there though, Pyrrha doesn't drink, I think Jaune's taking her out to dinner to celebrate"

"Shame, I would have bought her a drink" Sun laughed as he sat up, only to start coughing and clutching at sore ribs. His partner gave him a concerned once over before his expression became one of incredulity as he caught sight of the distinctive bruising across the Monkey Faunus's face

"How did she manage to break your nose through your Aura?" Neptune tried and failed to keep the hint of laughter out of his voice, Sun merely flipped him off in response

"You want me to come or not? In fact, can I borrow one of your shirts? I don't really have anything for clubbing in Vale"

"Yeah sure, got any preferences?" Sun paused for a moment, considering

"Nothing I need a tie for"

* * *

Miltia Malachite irritably smoothed out the wrinkles in her crimson dress, an article of clothing that cost more than the cars most of the patrons to Junior's arrived in. Casting her eyes around the club and ensuring her uncle Hei wasn't looking her way she poured herself an impressive amount of vodka and downed it in one before forcing a polite smile onto her face and dealing with the next customer struggling to make their order heard over the thumping bass music. Beneath the fake smile Miltia was honestly furious and closer to heartbroken and humiliated than she cared to admit even to herself, until that morning she'd been dating an Atlesian student by the name of Flynt Coal; an arrangement that came to an abrupt end when she found out that her twin sister Melanie had also believed that she was the sole recipient of the young man's affections.

"Mel, I'm taking a break" she snapped, the twins had been blunt with each other since the revelations. Neither blamed the other, but it helped to have someone to snap at and Flynt had wisely chosen to make himself scarce before their uncle decided which of his limbs to remove first. Hearing the distinctive clacking of her twins' weaponised heels approaching she made her way from behind the bar to one of the tables in the corner, not the V.I.P section as Uncle Hei's associates were currently occupying it and she took the order not to get _'Too friendly'_ with them more seriously than Melanie did.

"Fuck this place" she muttered bitterly as she looked around and saw countless happy couples filling the venue. Many of them students of the Huntsmen Academies competing in the Vytal tournament, _'Just like Flynt'_ Miltia slouched forward in her seat, desperately wishing she'd swiped another glass of vodka, or several. Her eyes passed over a group that had followed Yang Xiao Long into the club; the brawler more commonly known to the regulars as Blondie had somehow managed to persuade her uncle into allowing an underage student to have a few drinks, which Miltia quite frankly found insulting considering he'd been adamant that neither she or her sister were allowed to drink before they turned eighteen. Shaking her head she continued to survey what could almost be considered her domain, she had no real authority yet if she gave an order it tended to be followed. Her eyes widened a fraction as two young men were allowed into the club after being thoroughly checked for weapons, a precaution that had been in place since Yang's first foray into the establishment. _'Well hello' Miltia thought to herself 'I haven't seen you in a while….and who's your friend'_

* * *

Sun Wukong gave the bouncers a glare over his shoulder as he stepped into the club alongside Neptune, the designer T-shirt he had borrowed from his partner on one hand highlighted his toned physique exceptionally well, on the other it felt a little bit too small to be comfortable. No sooner had the pair gotten fully inside, their ears being assaulted by music that made the Monkey Faunus wince due to his more sensitive hearing and diaphragm subjected to the pulsating bass, than a crimson streak rocketed into view in front of them, revealing Ruby Rose standing on unsteady legs caused by more than the heels she'd been coerced into wearing if the slight glassiness of her eyes was anything to go by

"Nep, hey I've been waiting for you" she informed them, popping the P on Neptune's nickname before taking his hands in hers and standing on her toes to plant a gentle kiss on his cheek; settling Sun's confusion as to whether anything was happening between them

"Hey Sun, you did well today, as well as anyone does against Pyrrha. Come on everyone's already here" hearing the word 'Everyone' made Sun a little wary and he quickly scanned the dance floor. Neon Katt was currently occupying the DJ booth wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a logo for 'Sunshine and Rainbows records' on the dance floor itself Coco Adel and Velvet could be seen practically wrapped around each other, Velvet wearing Coco's signature beret at an angle that accommodated her Faunus ears. In a nearby corner of the club Yang was sat on Fox Alistair's lap, the pair resting their foreheads against each other, seemingly having just broken apart after a kiss while Fox cupped her cheeks. Knowing what he did about how Fox's Semblance functioned Sun absent mindedly wondered for a moment if Yang had suggested the club because the excessive noise would give the blind fighter more sound waves to form an image from. His pondering was brought to an uncomfortably abrupt halt when he saw the trio nearby, sat at a table not far from Yang and Fox were Yatsuhashi, Weiss and Blake. They hadn't seen him yet and were as far as he could tell managing, against all odds, to have a pleasant conversation. Sun didn't consciously make the decision but a wave of something akin to dread at the sight of the feline Faunus spurred him into action, he planted a hand on Neptune's shoulder, his friend being led towards the group by Ruby who was yet to let go of his hand

"I'll catch up with you later" Neptune cocked his head and leaned close to him, whispering in his ear

"If it's about whatever it is that's going on with you and Blake-"

"It's not" Sun lied, sure his friend was unconvinced "I'm just gonna get a drink and try and get a hold of Scar and find out where he is"

"Okay man" Neptune gave him a knowing look before allowed himself to pulled away by the younger Huntress. Sun sighed, he knew exactly where Scarlet David was; on a date with Nadir Shiko, Sage and Arslan having played matchmaker for their team-mates. He wasn't even sure why he was avoiding Blake, the fact was he was wasn't really sure of anything regarding himself and Blake. They'd attended the dance together technically but things hadn't really gone anywhere beyond that point; if she told him she only saw him as a friend, or even as an annoyance then so be it but the constant uncertainty was honestly draining. Finding his way to the bar he considered his plan of action for the night, just leaving was an option but considering that he'd already paid for the taxi and entry fee it was one he was loathe to take. He knew that Blake's hearing was even more sensitive than his own and distinctly remembered that Weiss Schnee could not drink shots so there was a distinct possibility of the two of them leaving early, at which point he could reappear and claim to have been on the Scroll.

"Perfect" he breathed out, his mind made up. While he waited to be served he looked around for an empty table, once again ignoring his Scroll vibrating in his pocket; eventually his eyes settled on an almost empty table, that would do.

* * *

Miltia's eyes twinkled mischievously as he approached, it took him long enough.

"Hey, I don't wanna intrude or sound weird" the muscular blonde started "But I'm honestly just looking for somewhere I can lay low without leaving so do you mind if I sit here for a bit? Your sister said you drink Grey Goose" with that he placed a pair of glasses on the table, one containing the clear spirit.

"Yeah whatever you can sit here" Miltia answered, gesturing to an empty seat and quickly masking her surprise at what she was unsure was the truth or a rather unique approach at flirting. She'd been hoping for a breath of fresh air and distraction in the form of someone who was most definitely not Flynt Coal, she quickly found herself disappointed when the young man whose name she hadn't learned slouched in a chair wearing a morbid expression which was visible for the briefest moment before he rested his head in his hands and kept his eyes downcast. Miltia found herself fighting the urge to deploy her talon and prod him, this after all was an establishment people came to for a good, if expensive time; if he wanted to drink away his problems he should have gone to the Crowbar. Studying him for a moment she noticed that in addition to a very nice pair of shoulders, the muscles well defined through his slightly too-tight shirt her impromptu drinking partner had a tail covered in golden fur which was currently wrapped around his waist and twitching slightly; giving away clues as to his state of mind to anyone who knew how to read Faunus body language

"Hey, my eyes are up here" Miltia finally gave into temptation and deployed her wrist mounted blade, prodding him gently "Come on, if the White Fang are gonna get brave enough to send someone over to scope out the biggest crime family in Vale then the least their little runner can do is talk to me"

"Right, because every Faunus is part of the Fang. Fucking hell is this what I left Vaccuo for" he answered with an irritable huff as he leaned back in his seat, giving Miltia a full view of the bruising around his eyes and nose. Miltia immediately connected the dots

"Oh my gosh, you're a Hunter….in fact weren't you on TV earlier? Sun Goku?

"Sun Wukong. Remnants' best stowaway and third best punchbag" he gave a somewhat mocking bow while still sat down and Miltia couldn't help but giggle

"Miltia Malachite and you didn't do too bad, I'm mean for Oum's sake you lasted a few minutes against the Invincible Girl" she thought for a moment "So who're the other two punchbags?"

"The two scrubs from Team CRDL that Polendina wiped out in the doubles" he answered instantly, drawing another laugh from Miltia who, since her humiliation in this very venue at the hands of Yang Xiao Long had been studying combat at a Hunter level with occasional lessons from Roman Torchwick; she'd been watching the Vytal Tournament religiously and knew precisely which match Sun was referring to

"So what did you leave Vaccuo for, sorry if I'm prying?" she sipped on her glass of vodka

"Obviously not the company" jade green eyes widened at that, before seeing the cocky smirk plastered across his, admittedly very attractive face. _Oh so he wants to spar then_

"You came over and sat with me sunshine"

"I came over here 'cos I don't wanna be over there" he indicated vaguely behind her, Miltia turned and saw what he was pointing at. Blondie and the guy she was dating had rejoined their group of friends where Neptune was currently sitting, as she took in the appearances of the various student Hunters one face stood out to her instantly

"Oh" she breathed out "I get it, yeah I wouldn't wanna be hanging out with a Schnee if I was you either" Sun cocked his head to the side for a moment, before shrugging

"Y'know what, I'll let you think that" Miltia paused for a moment, finally remembering to retract her weapon as an idea struck her. She was in the mood for some slight rebellion

"Well if you don't wanna be around anyone then I've got an idea" she gave him a conspiratorial wink which he responded to by leaning in, clearly giving her his full attention now "That V.I.P over there is just a holding pen for my uncles' crew. The real V.I.P is upstairs, strictly off limits. I've got a key and I can get a bottle off something brought up. Sun's face slowly formed a cheeky smile that Miltia couldn't help wanting to lean across the table and kiss, even when he was moping the boy was cute.

"So….do you offer to take all the suspected White Fang spies upstairs?" he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Miltia merely rolled her eyes as she slid out of seat and made to leave

"Well if you don't want to?" she began walking, her own smirk forming as she'd taken less than half a dozen steps before Sun fell into step beside her.

* * *

Sun had taken the lighter out of the unsuspecting victim's back pocket and flipped onto the branch of a nearby tree before anyone sober enough to realise what was happening had seen him, from there he casually leapt back onto the railings that lined the rooftop of Junior's bar and handed the item to the admittedly very attractive young woman who'd led him into the restricted area of the club

"Oh my Oum you are such a jackass" she laughed before lighting a cigarette and taking a drag

"Want one?" she held out the box contained the rest

"Nah, I quit when I started training at Haven. Kinda have to stay in shape for the job"

"Well you're certainly doing that" Miltia muttered under her breath, hoping that Faunus senses weren't as acute as she'd heard "I personally need something to help me relax, it's been a long day"

"Wanna talk about it?" the Monkey Faunus seemed genuinely interested so Miltia took a sip of yet another Vodka, feeling decidedly buzzed and began what could possibly turn into a rant

"I found out the ass-hole I was dating was also dating my twin sister, coming over from Atlas and making idiots of us in our own house. I am so glad Blondie and the Schnee kicked his team out of the tournament, hell I should let them drink for free tonight….I mean seriously is that what being a Huntsman does to you? You think because you've got a cool weapon and a few fans that you can just act like rules don't apply to you? What the fuck"

"From someone who claims to be a member of the biggest crime family in Vale" Sun retorted with a grin which quickly became a sympathetic smile "But yeah, it sucks….A lot. Like seriously, when you can have basically anyone you want it can't be that hard to to just decide what you're looking for and let people know where-" Sun stopped talking and leaned against the railings

"Oh wow that went from sympathy to pouring your heart out in record time" Miltia laughed giving Sun a playful nudge as she made herself comfortable next to him "How much have you had to drink?"

"Probably too much, possibly not enough" he drawled out

"So why do you do it then?" Miltia asked as she decided to rest her head on his shoulder, pleased when Sun accepted the contact without comment "The whole Hunting thing? I mean surely you're risking your life for more than a few cheering fans?" Sun didn't answer immediately. He considered giving her one of his usual lies about wanting to see the world but something, he was unsure if it was the alcohol or how grateful he was for someone who seemed to know what they wanted and make it fairly clear, he decided to give Miltia something that even his team-mates had gone without hearing for the first few months of their time together, that not even Blake knew. The truth.

"Okay, so you know how Vaccuo is basically a hellhole right? Gang warfare is right out in the open, I saw my first drive by shooting before I was ten years old, a lot of the mines are tapped and we don't have a lot of resources. Basically if you're not living and working in one of the tourist traps then life's gonna be tough"

"Yeah….I mean I've never been to Vaccuo but I've heard" Miltia answered, assuming like most people did that Sun simply wanted to escape his upbringing. The Faunus reached into his pocket and withdrew his Scroll, checking some unread messages before continuing

"Well I'm not from one of the tourist traps. I grew up in a part of Vaccuo called Vulture Bay and it's exactly as pleasant as it sounds. Thing is schools in places like that don't really get a lot of funding for anything, so things like sex education pretty much get scrapped to save Lien. I lost my virginity when I was fourteen" Miltia was utterly confused now, until Sun held his Scroll up for her to see and her eyes widened at the image that had been attached to one of the messages from an old flame he'd been ignoring "His name's Huīchén Wukong, he's three years old" Miltia covered her mouth as she took in the image of the small Faunus child who shared the same messy hair and simian tail as Sun albeit in a coppery colour that could either be described as brown or ginger depending on how the light struck it, with bright blue eyes that seemed to shine with pure happiness and adorable, slightly chubby cheeks. The boy was holding up a sign, clearly written by Huīchén Wukong himself in bright yellow crayon, reading simply "GO DADDY!"

"Oh my Oum he's so cute!" she gasped

"He's the reason I do this" Sun sighed "I'm eighteen with a three year old son to a woman I was never actually in a relationship with and who happens to think I'm a waste of space….he deserves better than that. Shade wouldn't accept me, I've got warrants out for me in about eight different districts of Vaccuo so I moved to Mistral. I only really get to see him on video calls and being away from him hurts like hell….but at least I can give him a decent life on a Hunters' salary, I'll gonna buy his Mum a place away from all the crime when I get enough money, give my kid a Dad he can be proud of"

"You" Miltia sighed as she nuzzled into Sun, partially because it was getting cold and partially just because she wanted to. Smiling as she felt his arm snake around her waist "Are so sweet. And he is proud of you, look at that sign"

"And now he gets to tell his friends that Daddy got beat up on TV"

"Now he gets to tell his friends that Daddy fought one of the best fighters on Remnant between fights with Grimm. He's got the coolest Dad" Miltia's reply caught Sun off guard and before he could comment she pressed a finger to his lips "And hey, he's clearly gonna grow up to be just as handsome as his Dad one day so there's that" Miltia smirked as she ran a hand through Sun's messy blonde locks and pulled him down into a kiss that tasted of vodka and smoke which the Monkey Faunus happily returned; slowly at first but gradually becoming more intense as his hands found their way to her hips. Eventually the need for oxygen broke them apart, leaving them with matching blushes and satisfied smiles, Miltia spoke first

"Okay, so I've definitely been on my break for too long. I've gotta go and at least pretend to work for a while, you still gonna be here when I manage to sneak off again?"

"Unless I have to get Neptune home….he can't handle his drink" Sun paused "But either way can I get your number? I'd like to take you out sometime" Miltia inwardly squealed with joy though she managed to remain some sort of composure as she took Sun's scroll and added her contact information, as she made to return to work she gave him one last parting comment

"Just don't get me confused with Melanie"

"I doubt I could"

 **Authors Notes:**

Okay so the appeal for this ship is something I've spoken about on Tumblr before: There's nothing in canon that suggests Sun is only attracted to Faunus and the twins are similar enough physically to Blake to be considered his 'Type' and Sun coming from Vaccuo while the twins being (Still Headcanon) related to Junior, thus part of Vale's criminal underworld means that they'd actually get each other in a way that few other ships do.

So to summarise:

Pyrrha versus Penny could have played out like a DBZ fight, just going on for episodes. Also love the idea of whatever Remnant's equivalent to the internet is falling in love with Penny and her becoming the talk of all the Hunter and Tournament related message boards.  
Sun and Neptune were originally meant to face off against Pyrrha and Nora in the doubles. While we can all agree that Nora would humiliate Neptune _(It's not even pretending to be fair)_ Sun versus Pyrrha would be interesting, it'd be a show but I think Pyrrha would win convincingly.  
Imagine getting beaten so bad you have to be carried out and all you can hear is Pyrrha's iconic "Sorry"...let's be honest half of the fandom would thank her.  
Since this is a "Nothing bad ever happened AU" we'll just pretend that Ember Celica was damaged in the fight with Merc, Team CMEN weren't planning to destroy Beacon and Yang was found innocent of any wrongdoing, then proceeded to progress to the next round and win that.  
Callbacks to the first two chapters….these weren't meant to be connected.  
Nearly broke his arm, messed his ribs up, broke his nose. I like the juxtaposition of Pyrrha the super nice, best friend you could ever ask for against Pyrrha the invincible girl of Mistral who will fuck your shit up in ways you couldn't even imagine.  
Flynt coal is needlessly extra.  
Also, don't hurt the Malachite Twins or uncle Hei _(I headcanon that he's their uncle)_ puts the rocket launcher bat away and gets the hacksaw out.  
Oh god can you imagine Ruby trying to use her Semblance while shit-faced.  
Neon Katt has to do something music related when she's not studying. Has to.  
Yang taking Fox to a club would actually be another cool date idea for those two.  
Weiss doing shots….someone write that please, it would be hilarious.  
"It took him long enough" The twins know that they're hot, simple as that.  
 _If he wanted to drink away his problems he should have gone to the Crowbar_ ….Shots fired.  
Headcanon that Sun hadn't really experienced anti-Faunus racism before he left Vaccuo, but he had experienced a lot of street crime.  
Aren't you Sun Goku? yes I did that.  
Shots fired at Team CRDL, because they deserve it.  
If you didn't know Blake was a Faunus and saw Sun avoiding Team RWBY then yeah your natural reaction would be "Oh he doesn't wanna be around the Schnee heiress".  
Sun steals anything that isn't bolted down….I'm surprised his weapon doesn't incorporate a pair of bolt-cutters.  
" _Like seriously, when you can have basically anyone you want it can't be that hard to to just decide what you're looking for and let people know where-"_ Black Sun is my NoTP but I'll acknowledge it's existence here.  
Poor education and lack of opportunities in inner city areas leading to higher crime rates and teen pregnancies, see this is how you talk about social issue RT. They're not just an excuse to have a cat-girl (As much as we love Blake).  
So, nobody was expecting that were they? Good, carefree Sun actually getting something he cares about other than Blake Belladonna's cute little ass. As I said Black Sun is my NoTP but I don't dislike Sun, they just need to make him a more complete character in his own right.  
Yay for drunk decisions….Disclaimer, do not try to recreate anything you read in this one shot. I accept no responsibility for ruined lives.

Thank you to YellowMagicalGirl, ZSweberUnlimited, Merendinoemiliano, Treenymphie and ThephattestofPhils for their reviews on the last chapter.  
I think that glitch is actually just me writing while exhausted and not having a Beta reader.  
Nope, no Lancaster or White Knight planned.  
Seriously I don't get how nobody else has looked at Ruby and Neptune and thought "Oh, they work well together" even if it's platonic and you call them the 'Weiss Schnee appreciation society' they'd be great friends.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.


	4. Nyan Cat

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

 **Chapter 04: Nyan Cat**

 **Prompt – Hurt/Comfort**

 **Ship – Blake Belladonna x Neon Katt**

It had been two months. Two months living in Hell, scavenging what food was available, taking shelter in whatever buildings remained in a condition to offer it, helping any civilians she came across while at the same time taking care to hide her heritage; fear of Faunus was understandable in their current situation. Two months of felling every Grimm in sight while avoiding patrolling Hunters and military sweeps out of an odd mix of fear shame and force of habit. It had been two months since the fall of Beacon and Blake Belladonna, formerly of Team RWBY had no more left to give and was desperately trying to make what little peace she could with the fact that she was going to die here, with so many regrets.

It had been a scavenging run, something that had become routine to the feline Faunus in the aftermath of the catastrophic battle. Blake had been in the middle of filling a rucksack with non perishable foods, having finally managed to find a supermarket that hadn't been utterly picked clean by looters already and intended to search for any Dust stores in the area; thankfully Gambol Shroud wasn't a high calibre weapon like Crescent Rose and ammunition was readily available if one knew where to look.

Her plans had been forced to change when the sound of screams reached her ears, throwing the rucksack somewhere it could easily be recovered later Blake ran frantically in the direction of the commotion; scaling the walls and roofs of buildings as she went to get a better vantage point. It wasn't long before she found the small family, Mother, Father, two small children; Oum only knew how they'd lasted out in the ruins for this long with no weapons or unlocked Aura at their disposal. They were exhausted and the Grimm following them seemed to know it, a pack of a dozen or so Beowolves that were no longer even bothering to chase after them, content to simply stalk the humans and corral them into a corner.

"Nobody else" Blake had hissed furiously before leaping from a roof and sinking the blade of Gambol Shroud so far into the skull of the first Grimm that is burst from the monster's lower jaw and cracked the pavement below, being ripped free as the Beowolf dissipated into dark mist.

"GO!" after giving the order Blake's attention had been solely on making sure that none of the Grimm managed to follow the fleeing family, outnumbered more than ten to one, tired and hungry, with little Aura left due to sheer exhaustion Blake had leapt into the fray, a single blade against a ravenous maelstrom of claws and teeth. She removed heads and limbs with righteous fury until she forced to one knee by the weight of a Grimm lunging at her, senses too dulled by fatigue to create a shadow clone in time to respond. Another tackled her, its' mass connecting with the still healing wound she had received at the hands of Adam Taurus, the permanent reminder of her failures. She was sent skidding across the hard floor, the Grimm that had tackled her bearing down, with a scream of pure rage Blake managed to wedge her blade in the beasts' mouth and slash.

There were four left. Blake tried to rise to her feet, staggered a few paces and collapsed to the ground, Gambol Shroud falling from her grasp. Her vision, which was beginning to darken around the edges was filled with the approaching Grimm. This was how it ended then, no reunions with her friends and family, no justice for the Faunus, no redemption for crimes, no glorious retribution against the monster of a man who'd once meant so much to her; Blake Belladonna was going to be killed by four Beowolves, a laughable excuse of a death beneath even the greenest of student Hunters. She contemplated her final words, despite the lack of anyone to hear them and found that there was only one thing to say, to so many people

"I am so sorry" the expected agony as fangs and claws ravaged flesh never came, instead the Grimm acted in unison, cocking their heads in the direction that the family Blake had been willing to lay down her life to rescue had gone. As the moments crawled by she heard something approaching, was that an engine? And what on Remnant was that rainbow coloured light she could see drawing closer?

* * *

Everyone who had seen the hyperactive Atlesian Faunus named Neon Katt even briefly was most likely familiar with the trail of multicoloured light that she perpetually seemed to leave in her wake whenever she moved. What was far less common knowledge was exactly what that light was, it was a side effect of her Semblance; a Semblance which allowed her to transfer kinetic energy into semi solid mass, a Semblance which required side effects such as the constant aurora trailing behind her as an outlet in order to prevent her from destroying almost anything she touched. Neon Katt, the eighteen year old that most of her peers has assumed was nothing but a happy go lucky party animal, who only survived at Atlas Academy due to affirmative action and an overly lenient team leader was in fact capable of harnessing powers so destructive that even the most bigoted members of the old boys club that was the Academies' board of Governors had to take notice when General Ironwood brought her to their attention as a possible candidate for Hunter training.

There was only one drawback, the amount of momentum Neon required for truly devastating results was more than she could generate by simply running.

And her skates had been broken in the first week of the effort to retake the Grimm infested streets of Vale.

It was with all of this in mind that when she was en route to respond to what sounded like a Grimm attack nearby while performing a solo reconnaissance sweep and was faced with a group of fleeing civilians who told her of a young Huntress acting alone who had rescued them that Neon began looking around for a suitable vehicle and something to use as a weight. Eventually she settled on a small minivan that had somehow survived the carnage and in a less urgent situation she would have relished the opportunity to demolish just for its' sheer ugliness. Hot-wiring the vehicle with impressive swiftness and placing a brick on the accelerator Neon perched herself on the hood of the minivan as it began to pick up speed, travelling along the long straight road towards where the Huntress in need was allegedly fighting and focused, channelling her Aura and Semblance as she went causing the trail of rainbow coloured light to encompass the car as well as herself.

"This is gonna be paws-some" Neon purred herself as she prepare to unleash her Semblance in ways that General Ironwood, in his infinite suspicion had expressly forbidden her from using during the tournament. As the minivan sped towards what appeared to be thoroughly thinned out remains of a pack of Beowolves she triggered her Semblance, the commandeered vehicle came coasting to a halt behind her as its' momentum was instantly stolen and transferred into Neon herself who had leapt from the hood, caving the chassis in on its' self with her Aura fuelled strength as she did so. The first Beowolf to lunge at her was obliterated as Neon released a sizeable portion of the kinetic energy in the form of something that was part light, part physical object and partially pure ephemeral Aura; a plane of multicoloured light burst horizontally from her palm and bisected the Grimm cleanly in half like a guillotine, carrying on and shearing through several street lights.

"Come get some!" the remaining trio of Grimm responded to her bellowed challenge with snarls and howls before rushing forward. Neon almost casually withdrew her nunchaku and backhanded the first to reach her across the snout, unleashing more of the stolen kinetic energy as she did so. The Grimm's skull exploded and the rainbow coloured light punched a hole through the wall of the nearest building, the third Beowolf of the four attempt to lunge only to be sidestepped and have Neon's weapon land squarely between its' shoulder blades, the semi solid Aura enveloping the weapon striking it like a comet.

Then a gunshot rang out

Neon's head whipped around to where the final Beowolf had been stood, only to see its' body losing cohesion as it perished, fading away from the edges of a bullet hole bored through its' skull. On the pavement where somehow Neon has thus far failed to notice her was the Huntress whom she'd been intending to save, clutching her weapon and struggling to stand before simply collapsing to the ground and remaining there. Making her way over tentatively Neon's eyes widened as she recognised the Huntress, she was a member of Team RWBY; Blake Belladonna if she remembered correctly. She didn't seem to be suffering from any real injuries but she was clearly fighting to remain conscious

"Wow, I didn't see you there. Almost hit you with a minivan….that'd be cat-astrophic" Blake merely groaned.

"Yeah you're welcome" Neon snorted as Blake finally allowed herself to pass out from fatigue.

* * *

Blake's usually impeccable vision was somewhat blurry as she opened her eyes. Which adjusted to the darkness with ease. It was cold, the faint breeze against her ears somewhat refreshing after all the time she spent with them covered. Then her heart began to race

"It's okay, it's okay" Blake whipped around nervously at the sound, instinctively reaching for the hilt of Gambol Shroud only to find it absent. It took her a moment to recognise the individual in front of her. Auburn hair with dyed streaks, noticeable Lower Atlesian accent and a long thin feline tail protruding from her lower back; Neon Katt. She was holding Blake's bow in her hand and Blake's pulse began to slow to regular levels when she saw that her weapon was propped up against the wall near the doorway

"It fell off when I was carrying you" Neon explained as Blake made her way over and gratefully took the little black bow "Didn't think you'd wanna sleep off Aura strain with a weapon digging in your back"

"Thank you" Blake murmured, her voice croaky and eyes narrowing somewhat as a healthy sense of paranoia honed over her time in the White Fang sunk in; what if Neon knew somehow knew about her history? Why was an Atlesian Huntress of all people the one to rescue her? Were the crimes she and Adam committed in Atlas still being investigated?

"What're you doing here? The only people I've seen besides civilians are Hunters from Vale leading militia groups of whoever's willing to fight, ex police mainly" Blake watched as Neon's face took on a haunted expression for a brief moment before she forced her customary smile back into place

"Throwing away my career as a Huntress" Blake was taken aback by the bluntness of the answer and she noticed that Neon's hands trembled slightly as she continued "General Ironwood gave the order to pull back, all Atlesian forces were to get on the nearest ship and head home before he closes the borders. A few handfuls of us refused the order and turned over our dog-tags….I have to fix this, there has to be a way to fix this…." she trailed off and Blake couldn't help becoming concerned at the way she seemed to stare into space at the last few words. It was an expression she's seen before, usually after a White Fang raid went _very_ wrong.

"Neon are you-"

"So yeah anyway I came to wake you up" Neon carried on as if nothing had happened "I'm on a three day scouting run for Vale's forces so I've actually got plenty of rations I can share some with you; hope you can stomach military stuff"

"Trust me I've had worse" Blake chuckled as she followed Neon out of the bedroom of what seemed to be a one bedroom apartment that had clearly been spared from the worst of the fighting. It was the truth, she'd had to rely on military rations on more than one occasion before and one of the few things worse than said rations, was stolen rations that had been left in a warm environment for just a little too long. The lights were off in the kitchen, though with the stove apparently working it was most likely in an effort to avoid drawing unwanted attention rather than a lack of power. Blake took a seat and watched as her rescuer, in truth the first person she'd had a real conversation with since the battle transferring instant ramen noodles from a pot to a pair of bowls before joining her at the small table. It was evident whoever the previous occupant was they were someone of limited means

"They never get any less gross" Neon muttered as she swallowed the first mouthful "Seriously, what I wouldn't give for that noodle place 'Simple Wok' to still be open"

"I know right, that place was great" Blake chimed in, Neon grinned and regarded her silently for a while

"So how come you're stuck in the ruins on your own?" Blake looked away, trying to keep the myriad feelings she was struggling with off of her face. The seconds seemed to crawl by with neither of them speaking and Blake wasn't sure why, it may have been that her time at Beacon had weakened her resolve, or just that she simply missed having her friends around her; but she began to talk

"I don't know exactly where my team are. As far as I know they all made it home. I have things that I need to make right as well"

"I thought for sure you'd be either have gone home or if you were from around here you'd have ended up holed up somewhere with the pretty blonde on your team" Neon's hands shot to her mouth as words seemed to tumble out of her "You two aren't a thing right? 'cos if you were sorry"

"No….Yang was hurt in the battle….badly" Blake's voice dropped to a terrified whisper "It was Adam Taurus. As for my family I haven't spoken to them in years….I'm alone"

"Adam fucking Taurus was involved?" Neon hissed, seeming lost in thought for a moment as she considered the boogie monster that Faunus parents scared their children with "Oum Yang is tough, almost as tough as she is needlessly pretty….Adam Taurus, he's a monster though, she's lucky to be alive"

"He cut her arm off at the elbow in a single hit and did this to me" she gestured to the still healing wound to her side, Neon paled but at the same time reached across the table and placed a hand on top of Blake's, giving it a gentle squeeze

"Still, silver lining is that if I can get word to Atlas that Taurus led this attack personally they might send some aid. There's a rumour in Atlas, they'll never confirm it either way, but they say that Adam Taurus bombed an SDC factory while some of the board of directors were inside and fought Specialist Schnee to a standstill on his own" Neon thankfully interpreted Blake's involuntary shudder as fright or disgust. Blake knew the truth, the information about the board of directors being present had been false; fed to them by Winter herself to lure the White Fang to an empty factory. Adam hadn't fought her alone, he'd just been the only one to make it out of the ensuing massacre alive.

"You should try and get word to them" Neon suggested "CCT is still down but if you stick with me we'll head back to the perimeter they've set up. Send 'em a letter. I'll bet they miss you"

"My parents or Team RWBY?" Blake asked

"Both"

"There's a lot of things that can't be said in writing" Blake smiled wryly, knowing her team's reaction to Blake of all people espousing such an idea. "I could say the same to you though, what about Flynt? Or your family?" she felt Neon's hand tighten around hers, trembling again as her fellow Faunus began laughing, a sound which rapidly shifted from bitter to outright hysterical before giving way to uncontrollable sobs as Neon collapsed onto the table, head in her hands as she wept uncontrollably

"Neon?" Blake was aghast, trying to decipher the words interspersed with her crying

"They're gone! they're fucking gone!"

"….Team FNKI?" Blake asked tentatively

"My parents" Neon peered up from the table, tears still streaming down her face "I'm an army brat Blake. My Mom was a gunner and Dad was in charge of maintenance of the Knights attached to the ship"

"Oh my Oum" Blake breathed out "When the knights went rogue-"

"I don't know" Neon laughed bitterly "All I know is that I'd recognise the _'Vorbote Des Todes'_ anywhere, I spent half my childhood on that ship….that giant Dragon Grimm ripped it in half. No known survivors" without thinking Blake had left her seat and thrown her arms around Neon, holding her close in way that, had she been in a state of mind to consider it would have reminded her of Yangs hugs

"So that's why I'm here" Neon mumbled, wiping her face as the occasional tear fell "I had to look, I had to know for sure so I went AWOL and joined up with Vale's relief efforts as a scout. I found the wreckage" Blake held her tighter as he body shuddered with silent sobs. Neither of them were sure how long they stayed like that before Neon finally managed a weak, watery chuckle between sniffles

"I feel like an ass-hole….I know I should tell you to go find your family, get Team RWBY back together and all that cliché stuff. But I really wanna tell you to stay here for a while" Blake wasn't sure but she might have blushed at that comment before tucking Neon's head under her chin and murmuring

"I can do both. I'm not abandoning anyone else"

* * *

It had been a month. A month of Blake and Neon acting as scouts of Vale's forces, Goodwitch had been the most emotional that Blake had ever seen her upon discovering that another of her students was accounted for. A month of the two Faunus being almost inseparable on and off of the battlefield to a degree that some people may have considered unhealthy, having forged a friendship in that abandoned one bedroom apartment that surpassed any of the superficial differences that most people would be quick to notice upon seeing the pair.

It was time for it to come to an end.

Blake gazed at the ship as it's gangplank was lowered, 'The Pride' was the first vessel since the fall of Beacon to make the trip to Menagerie and she intended to see if there was anything that remained of a bridge she'd thought burned for years.

"You could come with me" Blake offered quietly, Neon stood beside her eyeing the ship with something akin to longing. She'd come a long way in such a short time, she rarely cried herself to sleep but Blake was terrified that could change. Neon shook her head

"Go home Blake, get your happy ending….But do something for me?"

"What is it?" Blake turned to face her and for the first time that she could recall Neon Katt looked hesitant and shy, shuffling her feet before taking a breath to steady herself

"I was going to try and play this off and ask you to pass it on to your pretty blonde friend" Blake rolled her eyes, Neon seemed as drawn to Yang after their brief encounter as Blake had been. Neon continued "But honestly this is for you" Blake's eyes widened as Neon leaned in and kissed her and without any conscious decision she was kissing her back, arms wrapping around Neon's waist, her tail brushing against skin. Blake had missed this, it had been so long since she'd had any kind of physical intimacy. She took Neon's lower lip between her teeth, eliciting a gasp followed by a purr of pure pleasure from her before the two broke apart.

"Just promise me you'll get in touch" Neon pleaded between exhilarated pants "Cos it'd be paw-ful to not see you again"

"I will" Blake promised, giving her one last hug before preparing to board the ship. A soft smile crossing her face as she gave one parting comment over her shoulder that made Neon's eyes light up with joy "Not seeing you again would be a cat-aclysm"

 **Authors Notes:**

Okay so the appeal for this ship I'll just come out and say it, is pure angst factor in these kinds of conditions. Blake needs someone to lean on after Beacon and Neon reminds her of Yang too much to be just brushed off. It's less of a relationship, more of a coping mechanism.

So to summarise:  
Oh yeah, we're starting off bleak. No easing you into it at all.  
Yeah that whole scene was dark, sorry about that.  
My ideas for what Neon's Semblance is probably make her OP, but then again be a Faunus from Atlas who not only made it into the academy but was one of the two members of her team to progress to the doubles round of the tournament means she must have something going for her.  
Fuck minivans.  
Neon puns, even if Blake runs from Yang she can't escape the puns.  
Yeah I headcanon that Blake has seen a lot of shit during her time in the Fang, as in enough that Blake and Qrow could swap old war stories (Which now I've thought of it I have to add to the to do list)  
Adam Taurus has gone so far off the rails that he's literally the boogie monster to some kids "Do your homework or Adam Taurus will come for you"  
I still headcanon that Adam and Winter have met in battle before.  
I also always headcanon that Neon is an army brat, the military is a career that attracts a lot of people who don't have many other options. In Remnant that would be the Faunus. You can also interpret some of Neon's personality as acting out if you want.  
Neon canonically thinks Yang is pretty.

Thank you to ZSweberUnlimited, Merendinoemiliano, ThephattestofPhils and ShadowAlex2000 for their reviews on the last chapter.  
I'm glad so many people liked the little twist with Sun, I was probably risking it with that one….then again I get so much hate from Black Sun shippers, I really couldn't care less at this point.  
I agree that the villains need a lot more time spent of them, and not to plug my own work but if anyone wants to see a more developed and consistent Adam Taurus then give me story "The Downward Spiral" a try.  
I wasn't sure how to write the twins because apart from "Whatever" in a stereotypical valley girl accent they've had no lines. Any characterisation at all dilutes the gimmick factor.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.


	5. Snowbird

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

 **Chapter 05: Snowbird**

 **Prompt – Beacon/Remnant**

 **Ship – Qrow Branwen x Winter Schnee**

Winter Schnee wasn't angry. No, anger was something for less capable, less disciplined people. Anger was unbecoming of the youngest member of the Atlesian Specialists since their inception and certainly unsuitable for a commander making their way through their own ship after receiving word from their first mate that the individual responsible for the incident at the Vytal festival earlier that evening had been apprehended and that they were currently being held in the brig.

No Winter Schnee wasn't angry, she was utterly livid.

"At ease, in fact go get something from the mess hall" her voice came out in a terse monotone, anyone who knew her would of recognised it as the faux calm before the storm.

"Yes Ma'am. Thank you Ma'am" the pair of soldiers stood at either side of the entrance to the brig had stiffened and saluted upon seeing Winter approaching. They were clearly relatively recent additions to the crew, green enough that they hadn't yet learned that a lot of the stoic demeanour their commanding officer used in public was an act. Specialist Winter Schnee had worked her way up the ranks and if given the correct provocation the kind of needlessy extensive vocabulary only the finest education could produce would be mingled with the furious cursing of a drill Sargent; Winter suspected that she would receive that kind of provocation in the next few moments.  
Entering her own personal access code into a digital terminal caused the door to slide open with a whooshing hiss, before entering Winter entered another serious of commands; these options unavailable to any other member of the crew, as she stepped into the Brig all forms of monitoring were stopped. The moment the door closed behind her and automatically locked the cameras began to display a loop of the previous ten minutes and the various microphones hidden in the cells would be able to detect nothing except static from an unidentifiable source. The Brig was a small self contained prison, given the nature of her role as a Specialist it was not out of the question for Winter's ship to be used as a mobile black-site. The cells were small and the corridor was dimly lit, in sharp contrast to the illuminated pristine white surfaces of the rest of the vessel. The majority of the light coming from the pale cyan bars of the cages, the beams of light were effectively small forcefields, non-lethal but impassable. Stalking along the length of the brig she ignored the cells she passed knowing that they were empty, her ship was not being used to house drunken louts and opportunistic pickpockets; eventually she reached the end of the corridor where a single cell sat occupied. Its' lone inhabitant was wearing an Aura dampening collar and had been deprived of his weapon. The man sported a split lip, blood from which had dripped onto his shirt as well as severe bruising around his left eye; eyes that glinted with mischief as the prisoner stood and swaggered towards the bars, leaning as close as possible to the miniaturised forcefields and running a hand through hair

"Hey ice queen"

"Branwen" Winter bit out, she doubted she would ever be able to completely ignore or even comprehend the charisma that the older Huntsman oozed "You utter imbecile, do you delight in making life difficult for everyone around you?"

"Last name only, oh that's not a good start" Qrow chuckled out, his gruff voice having its' usual effect on Winter despite her efforts to hide it. She strode deliberately to the bars and slipped hand between them, grabbing Qrow's shirt and pulling him into a searing kiss through the bars before promptly breaking away and pulling him a little further forwards, just enough for him to receive a moderately painful shock as his chest collided with the forcefields and be pushed back.

"Are you crazy?" he demanded between coughs as he frantically patted himself down, his clothing smoking in several places

"I blame it on present company" Winter drawled, giving Qrow a faint smirk "An utter reprobate who apparently can't be trusted to visit anywhere that isn't a battlefield or a bar without security tailing him"

"So you came to read me the riot act" Qrow sighed as he flopped down on what passed for a bed in his cell "I was hoping to see you at some point, I at least owe you an apology for our little sparring match. This wasn't exactly how I planned it"

"We don't have the riot act in Atlas, we have summary executions" Winter informed him "But the point stands" She found herself smiling despite herself, Qrow had already more than sufficiently apologised for that incident in private. It was how things always played out between them. They weren't courting, neither of them were suited for that kind of thing but since the first time they'd met when one of Qrow's missions had brought him into Atlesian territory and Ironwood had ordered Winter to accompany him they'd left an impression on each other and settled into a something of a routine. Usually they would annoy each other, trading barbs until either one of them snapped or a larger threat appeared wherein one of them would save the other, this was usually followed by victory drinks and a memorable night….or several, depending on the circumstances.

"I want to know what happened" Winter's tone was soft, but the fact remained it was a demand. Qrow's crimson eyes narrowed a fraction

"Well if it's about the public indecency you'll have to blame your first mate, they're the one who had me deepthroating a silencer"

"Don't be crude you lecherous cretin" Winter was forcing herself to remain calm and her voice not not become an enraged shout, despite how much she wanted to deactivate the forcefield and shake sense into him "First Mate Skye apprehended you as you were leaving the scene of an assault, you were drunk and resisted, reasonable force was used. Now are you going to explain to me what happened or am I going to have to file the absurd amount of paperwork it would take for me to have you transferred to a prison somewhere in Vaccuo and forgotten about"

"Oum damn it woman, I though you'd just threaten to let Matte break my other cheek or something, that's just cruel….also Matte, they definitely have something against me" Winter's eye twitched as she recognised some of the skills that made Qrow Branwen so useful to Ozpin at play, he was a showman who could make himself the centre of attention while at the same time directing said attention away from any parts of himself that inconvenient at that moment. He also wasn't wrong Matte Skye's crush on their commanding officer had been described as adorable by scuttlebutt aboard the ship and the First Mate would probably have to be reprimanded for allowing their emotions to cloud their judgement, amusing as it had been to watch Qrow get taken down a peg.

"Answers Branwen, I have other duties to attend to this evening"

"Alright, alright fine" Qrow slouched forwards, hands on his knees "I wish I could tell you it was something noble like 'he tried something with one of my nieces, not that they need my protection, but honestly his tacky merch pissed me off" Winter was dumbfounded, needing a few seconds to process the answer before responding though when she did her tone was cold enough to earn the nickname that Qrow gave her.

"You assaulted a man because he sold something you took issue with?" Qrow merely scowled, choosing to remain silent "You utterly irredeemable, barbaric, gutter-dwelling, half-witted savage of man! What could he possibly have been selling to earn such a reaction? Did the birdseed fail to meet your expectations? You drunken brute! Why on Remnant-"

"BECAUSE I WILL NOT HAVE MY HERITAGE EQUATED WITH TERRORISTS AND USED FOR CHEAP LAUGHS!" Qrow bellowed, clearly surprising himself as much as Winter with the furious outburst

"Your heritage?" Winter asked with a raised eyebrow; as someone who had been raised in the echelons of Atlesian society she knew all too well how easily tradition could be used to justify the worst kinds of thinking, she hadn't expected something like this from Qrow. He gave an irate huff, running his hands through his hair once again

"What do you know about the nomad tribes of Anima?" his tone was much softer, barely above a whisper

"I've never been stationed in Mistral" Winter admitted "But I am aware that SDC shipments leaving the Kingdom itself for the outlying villages are regularly set upon by the bandit tribes-"

"Don't call us that" Qrow's voice didn't increase in volume but the ferocity was unsettling

"I-"

"We are the Zuihou-Mianfei De-Ren. The last free people" Winter's eyes widened somewhat. She knew that Qrow wasn't a native of Vale despite training at Beacon Academy, he never spoke about his past and Winter had never made any covert enquiries into it.

"I was born into the Mengqin Tribe" Qrow continued, voice straining with his next words "I'm currently in exile from my people, but they're still my people"

"Qrow….talk to me" Winter murmured, the unflappable facade she kept up faltering for a moment and being replaced by something more tender "I want to understand, for any other guests or students who may come from a similar background. And for you"

"I need a drink for this" Qrow muttered with a derisive snort, knowing it would not be forthcoming "I assume you're familiar with the White Fang?"

"Intimately" Winter's voice was a feral snarl "We've drawn each others' blood more than once. I eagerly await my next confrontation with Adam Taurus" Qrow found himself smiling, Winter was truly something to behold when she was fired up

"Adam Taurus is a cocky little upstart who's been given far too much leniency; if the elders that raised me and Raven were still alive he'd have been brought to heel years ago. But that's besides the point" Qrow sighed "The guy I punched out was selling some pretty racist party masks. Y'know the kind, you're from Atlas; fluffy ears and a mask. He had a few 'I survived the Breach' T-shirts as well"

"So he was selling imitation White Fang costumes that most if not all Faunus would find derogatory, I'll have Vale's trading standards made aware of that but it doesn't explain the insult to your heritage?"

"The current head of the White Fang, the one who's made them much more militant is a Tiger Faunus by the name of Sienna Khan. You've probably never even seen a picture of her face have you?"

"I haven't" Winter admitted, it was a matter that had baffled Atlas intelligence. They knew of Ghira Belladonna's replacement but had never in five years managed to acquire a clear image of the mysterious Khan

"Because she never takes her mask off" Qrow replied "The reason that she never takes her mask off is that in our culture when we go into battle we give up our humanity, we prepare ourselves before battle to do the unthinkable and wear the faces of the monsters we're willing to become. Sienna Khan is, in her mind at war with the Kingdoms and she won't take her mask off until the day that war ends"

"The White Fang is being led by a member of your tribe?" Winter was stunned by the revelation, most searches for answers had been directed at the poorest districts of Atlas. It made sense that the greatest enemy of the SDC would have grown under the oppressive boot of the company her Father had turned the Schnee legacy into. Qrow shook his head

"She used to be. She's another exile like me; I've been to see her since she took up her position, tried to make her see reason. She told me that if I ever set foot on Menagerie again that she'd send a piece of me to each of the Kingdoms as a warning"

"Do the tribes respond to any and all confrontations with that level of violence?" Winter fought to keep her Father's bigoted sneers from creeping into her voice. Qrow merely chuckled

"The Zuihou-Mianfei De-Ren were farmers, explorers and guides until the Great War happened. Then Mistral started sending emissaries, telling us it was our duty to die in their war, they wanted conscripts. When we refused the persecution and propaganda started; eventually my people couldn't enter the Kingdom itself and most towns refused to trade with us. By the time I was born the Mengqin Tribe had become some of the best pirates and raiders on Anima and Sienna Khan has always been gifted when it comes to fighting" Winter saw the parallels between the treatment of Qrow's people and Atlas's persecution of Faunus immediately

"It makes sense now. The tactics that the White Fang use, the new uniforms"

"Half of those kids have no idea what they're doing. They're just lashing out at a world that has admittedly screwed 'em….I doubt they know what the masks mean and I will bet my sword that they've never taken the rites to actually wear a battle mask" There were a few moments of easy silence between them before Qrow mused aloud

"Honestly it's probably a good thing I broke that guy's nose"

"How so?" Winter sounded amused, Qrow's answer changed that

"Because if he'd kept at it word would have eventually gotten back to Menagerie and Sienna is very proud of _both_ sides of her heritage. She'd order an attack as retribution"

"I'll have the security tightened" Winter murmured

"It's a shame" Qrow sighed, a playful smirk gracing his features that Winter forced herself not to bite her lip in response to "I wouldn't want you to spend the entire festival working"

"It's my job" Winter reminded him

"True but Atlas doesn't really have any festivals does it. You should enjoy this"

"No we don't" Winter admitted with a sigh, eyes downcast "Atlas is built on the ruins of Mantle, we lost the war, our Kingdom is noted for its' inhospitality and even though I was raised in luxury I'm painfully aware with the conditions the majority of the population live in. Atlas doesn't have many celebrations because as a culture we don't feel we have much to celebrate"

"So you should enjoy this while you can" Qrow suggested, before giving her a wink that Winter refused to admit made her blush "If I wasn't sitting in a cell I'd show you around"

"Qrow Branwen, are you asking me on a date?" and somehow she managed to catch him, the living legend off guard

"Well, I mean it's not like….in fact Y'know what, yeah Ice Queen I am"

"Well then" Winter's face split into a broad smile "It's a good thing I have your weapon in my quarters to collect later, you'll have to be out of this cell before I leave the festival. You have everything you need, don't let escaping inflate your ego even further" Qrow chuckled, holding up the lock-pick that Winter had passed into his mouth during their earlier kiss that he'd transferred from his mouth to his palm during his faked coughing fit, unsure of what methods were being used to monitor them.

"Yep, all the tools I need" with that he reached around to the back of his neck and began working on unfastening the Aura dampening collar, doing so would allow him to shift into his avian form and make absconding far easier. Winter turned to leave, giving him one final comment before exiting the brig

"All you need now is a little good luck" with that she vanished, leaving Qrow sat in silence. Winter knew his Semblance; she knew that the odds would be against him the entire time. The whole idea was probably some twisted form of payback for their confrontation at the stadium. He beamed at the thought of just how underhanded and ruthless Winter could be, a truly Atlesian sense of humour.

"I love that woman" he chuckled to himself as he popped the restraint off and dared to try his luck.

 **Authors Notes:**

Okay so this ship is the closest thing to a mainstream one I'll be partaking in for this challenge. I used it for this prompt because Qrow and Winter have probably between them seen more of Remnant than most of the other characters.  
Also I feel like I ship them a little differently to most people, a lot of fans of the ship write Winter as kinda Tsundere "She loves Qrow really but doesn't know how to show it" I don't. They care about each other, but he's a veteran Huntsman who's always on the move, she's totally career driven. They're a pair of combat veterans from messed up backgrounds who've seen a lot of shit and can give each other a better run for their money or a more understanding shoulder to cry on when shit gets intense than most of the people around them.  
Do Qrow and Winter love each other? possibly. Will they ever be romantic about it? Fuck no….that's not the kind of people they are.

So to summarise:  
Headcanon that Winter used to be like Vol.1 Weiss and she still puts that act on, but her time at Atlas Academy and her military service opened her up to a lot of new experiences and taught her to relax.  
Also headcanon that if you get cussed out by Winter Schnee you thank her, while bleeding profusely from the ears and eyes due to sheer savagery.  
I still think Atlas does some very questionable (Or outright totalitarian) shit, so things like Winter basically having her own personal extra-judiciary prison on her ship doesn't seem that out of place.  
" _We don't have the riot act in Atlas, we have summary executions"_ \- You wish you were as bad ass as Winter Schnee.  
I don't think Qrow & Winter would have a conventional relationship, honestly closer to friends with benefits who occasionally wind each other up to the point of attempted murder.  
Another headcanon of mine, the first mate from Vol.4 Matte Skye, is ex Atlesian military and served aboard Winter's ship. In that context I kinda ship them.  
A lot of this chapter is headcanon based since world building lore is spotty at best in the show, headcanon that 'Bandit' is basically a racial slur is Mistral to describe all of the tribes regardless of whether or not they actually are raiders.  
I used Google Translate for the Tribes native language, my apologies if I butchered things.  
So there's a lot of fan theories about how Raven and Adam could be related. I looked at it from a different angle, Sienna Khan was taught by the same people that raised the Branwen twins and Adam is her apprentice. If circumstances had gone differently Adam could have been sort of an adopted nephew to Qrow.  
I also like the idea that before the Fall of Beacon Qrow was aware of Adam he just paid him no mind, how much do you think Qrow would be blaming himself for what happened to Yang.  
A slightly different explanation for the masks than the one Blake gave Sun, but the idea is that the White Fang are using a bastardised version of the tribes' culture.  
" _It made sense that the greatest enemy of the SDC would have grown under the oppressive boot of the company her Father had turned the Schnee legacy into"_ \- Still a little annoyed that this isn't canon.  
" _Atlas doesn't have many celebrations because as a culture we don't_ _feel we_ _have much to celebrate"_ Probably explains a lot.  
Winter Schnee is a Specialist, she is Spec-Ops/Black-Ops she 112% would pass a makeshift lock-pick by kissing someone.  
" _All you need now is a little good luck"_ Winter is goals, that level of brutal pettiness is inspirational.

Thank you to Merendinoemiliano and ShadowAlex2000 for their reviews on the last chapter.  
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.


	6. Steel Shooters

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

 **Chapter 06: Steel Shooters**

 **Prompt – Together/Separation**

 **Ship – May Zedong x Gwen Darcy**

The Kingdom of Vaccuo, as everyone who lived outside of it knew intellectually but could never hope to fully understand and appreciate; was a crime ridden cesspool whose inner city areas often had as much in common with an active war zone as they did with civilisation.  
Since the fall of Beacon things had only continued to deteriorate, the White Fang's clear involvement in the catastrophe had sparked tensions that were a strange concept to those native to the desert Kingdom; the first racially motivated attacks against Faunus had been met with displays of extreme violence by the Faunus led street gangs in the city, since then it had become a series of bloody tit for tat attacks that showed little sign of slowing. To complicate matters further Shade Academy was not currently open, Vale and Vaccuo shared the continent of Vytal and the governing body of the Kingdom had effectively conscripted the majority of its' usually self employed Hunters in order to reinforce the border, the fear that countless hordes of Grimm spawned in Vale would travel across the continent, gathering more monsters behind them as they went and arrive at Vaccuo's walls was not unreasonable. To combat the crime wave that threatened to consume the Kingdom the Headmistress of of Shade Academy, Rae Straw had contacted each of the students in her care that called Vaccuo home and given all that were willing the duty of assisting local law enforcement by patrolling the streets to help restore some sense of order; a task that she would normally never have even considered entrusting to any but the most capable of her upper classmen. Times were desperate however, many of the senior students had volunteered to hold the line against incoming Grimm and if their was any possible silver lining to be found in the tragedy of Beacon it was that many of Shades' younger students had acquitted themselves remarkably well and were eager to continue to protect and serve.

It was against this backdrop of racial tension and uncertainty towards the future that Gwen Darcy and Dew Gayl left Headmistress Straw's office after finishing a debriefing. The pair had called the Kingdom's troubled capital home their entire lives, though they hailed from different areas. Dew was born and raised in Nusar-Khalij, or translated from old Vaccuan; Vulture Bay, the port that every thief, cut-throat and smuggler in Remnant seemed to find profit in and had the kind of personality only such a place could produce. Gwen herself however was from a decidedly more reputable part of town and had lived in relative comfort, largely unaffected by the Kingdoms' problems

"Well that was a waste of time" Dew grumbled as she twirled her spear casually in one hand, bringing Gwen's wandering mind back to the present

"It's not a waste, if there's no crime it means we're doing our jobs" Dew merely stared at her partner, utterly baffled before bursting out laughing

"Gwen, never change. Please" eventually managing to compose herself she collapsed her spear and returned it to its' hidden holster on her upper thigh "There's always crime in the bay, literally always. If we've got nothing to report it means that we didn't catch 'em, which means they were smarter and faster than us and there is no fucking chance I'm letting the local scum think they're better than Hunters" Gwen couldn't help pouting, she knew that she came from a much more sheltered background than the rest of Team NDGO but it sometimes felt as if they considered her more like a younger sister than a friend or equal. The pair made their way through the campus towards their dormitory. Team NDGO had come to an agreement, there may not be lessons but they would only return home at weekends; during the week they operated out of their dorm for the sake of efficiency.

"Do you think we'd have held out better if it happened here?" Gwen asked, fidgeting with the throwing knives housed in her armoured skirt as she spoke. There was no need to specify what 'It' meant

"Hard to say" Gwen shrugged "I'd like to think so, I mean after everything else Shade's stood up to it'd be a shame to see it taken out" Gwen nodded silently. Shade was not like the other Academies, it was built to be Vaccuo's last line of defence government officials had accommodation here, there was an armoury large enough to supply several detachments of soldiers, records of the Kingdoms' history and a constantly maintained supply of food and fresh water beneath the ground. Atlas, Beacon and Haven had been built to train students for battle, Shade had been built to withstand another great war even if the rest of Remnant fell. Eventually they reached their dorm and stepped inside, Gwen not hesitating to make her way over to Nebula and drape herself across her lap the moment she saw that the other half of Team NDGO were present

"So, who did you catch? I can tell when you've won something babe, that cocky smile you do makes you even sexier" Gwen found herself blushing at her friends' openness with their sexuality, she didn't consider herself a prude by any stretch but certain things were just not spoken about in her home

"Sad part is you can't even tell 'em to get a room" a voice with a distinctive South Vaccuan twang to it sighed. Gwen turned and smiled at Octavia Ember, the farm girl who formed the final member of the team.

"We grabbed someone the police have been trying to find for a while, Nebula's brother Nova gave us a tip. Punch Lean, a Beetle Faunus who runs a lot of the drug trafficking….they think he might be one of the White Fang's big earners and recruiters"

"That's awesome" Gwen smiled, Octavia blushed under the praise before turning her attention to Gwen and Nebula who were currently making out "But do they have to do that here" she added in a stage whisper, her team-mate giggling before seemingly remembering something and rummaging around on the desk, eventually finding a letter and handing it to Gwen

"This came, it's for you"

"Definitely from May" Nebula teased, signalling that she and Dew had resurfaced for air "If she sends nudes in the mail she's a keeper"

"Oh my Oum you are a pervert" Gwen gasped, flushing scarlet before retreating out of the dorm in search of somewhere private to read the letter that was indeed, if the handwriting was anything to go by, from May Zedong.

* * *

Sitting on a secluded balcony as the sun dipped below the horizon, bathing everything in gold Gwen Darcy read the letter for what was surely at least the dozenth time. May Zedong, May who was one of the most taciturn people in their class, May whose islander accent and dialect were occasionally teased by her classmates, May the tomboy who had trembled with nerves when she asked Gwen if she'd like to dance had a way with words when committing them to paper rather than speaking that left her heart racing. But there were three words near the bottom of the page that Gwen's eyes kept darting back to, as if she were afraid the next time she looked they might not be there

" _I love you"_

Gwen and May had been dating since the dance, it was the first serious relationship either of them had been in and since the battle and the destruction of the CCT they'd been staying in touch via letters like this one, this was the first time the word love had been used between them and Gwen was unsure how to respond. She wanted to do something special for May to show how much she appreciated her, the question was what. Then a thought hit her, so far removed from her usual self that she was honestly shocked by it; physical intimacy had been limited in their relationship due to shyness on both of their parts, little more than hand holding and kisses that were usually brief. May's letter made it clear that she missed Gwen as much as Gwen missed her, the raven haired Huntress blushed as she looked around ensuring that she would be undisturbed before withdrawing her Scroll. If May wanted to see her, then Gwen would ensure that she got a show

"I have spent far too much time around Nebula and Dew" she sighed to herself as she began unfastening her corset.

* * *

Several miles off the coast of Vaccuo was the island of Jazirat-Alqarsh, home to some of the best fishermen in the Kingdom. Trading ships and fishing boats could be seen in the waters around the island at all times, interspersed with small gunboats manned by the Kingdom's notoriously corrupt border control. From the cliffs that lined one side of the islands shore one could see far enough for the mainland to be visible on the horizon. it was on these cliffs that May Zedong sat, since her return to Vaccuo she had forgone the beanie hat and jacket that she'd worn while in Vale; her homeland being too warm for them. Instead her tank top left her arms bare, displaying the impressive muscles that climbing these cliffs and helping her parents work at the docks had earned her as well as the freckles across the backs of her shoulders. Her hair was mostly tied back, though her bangs hung over the bandanna she had tied around her forehead. May liked to imagine that she looked impressive like this, a Huntress silently watching over the island, sniper rifle at the ready; in reality she was blushing like an idiot

"Wow" she couldn't help but whisper to herself as she looked at photographs that had accompanied Gwen's latest letter. Her now long distance girlfriend had shown just enough to leave May's heart and imagination racing and as she had done countless times since the fall of Beacon the sniper cursed the destruction of the CCT, she wanted to hear Gwen's voice; as it was she'd replayed every video she had of them together on her Scroll until her parents teased her about it. May could freely admit that she was lovesick though, she'd thought Gwen Darcy was frankly the coolest person she'd ever met since the moment she'd seen her using throwing knives at a shooting range without even looking at her targets. Pocketing the photographs, and idly wondering where Gwen had printed the images she'd obviously captured with her scroll; surely not at the academy itself. She reread the letter again and couldn't help but frown, there were certain words she'd hoped to see that were painfully absent and left May wondering if she'd said it too soon.

"Hey" the deep voice behind her caused her to leap to her feet and snatch her weapon from the ground in a single motion

"Sweet fucking Oum Roy, don't creep up on me like that!" she spat before her expression softened at the sight of her partner and oldest friend, Roy merely snorted in response before sitting down beside her and using his Semblance known as _'Equal Exchange'_ to turn the granite of the cliff into more comfortable grass, an ability that May had envied for years.

"Not my fault you were in your own little world. Still can't believe all it took to turn the toughest girl on the island into a blushing mess was a few cool knife tricks"

"Shut up!" May groaned as she covered her face with her hands

"No seriously, I'm sure there's a few girls on the island who wish they'd known that" Roy may have been her best friend, but that didn't make him any less merciless in his teasing

"Did you come here to just to try and make me throw myself off the cliffs due to embarrassment?" May asked with a glare that gave way to a smirk, Roy shook his head

"Nah was sparring with my sister, was using that spot near the docks we always used to go to get drunk" May nodded, she knew the spot as well as any other teen who'd grown up on the island "Anyway your Dad's boat just docked, looks like a good haul and I saw this on the notice board in town" Roy handed her a small square of paper that he'd clearly torn free, unfolding it revealed it to be an advert which May's eyes widened as she read

"So are we going?" Roy asked with a broad smile and a raised eyebrow, he was confident he could guess the answer. May chewed her lip nervously

"Would we qualify?"

"Brawnz and Nolan are already there, they want as many full teams operating as possible. Besides you know you want to"

"Yeah I do" May breathed out "I've gotta write back to Gwen-" Roy placed a hand on her shoulder before she could run off

"Don't" she gave him a confused stare before he continued "I'll write to Brawnz, but…..keep it a surprise for her" May thought for a moment, thinking about the possibilities before grinning

"So why are we still here? let's go apply for this mission"

* * *

"Gwen stop moping and focus" Nebula chided her as Team NDGO made their way through the infamous port of Nusar-Khalij

"She's right" Dew added, eyes scanning the part of Vaccuo she called home "This is not a place to get comfy….some of the gangs here treat stabbing a police officer or Hunter as an initiation" the thought made Gwen shiver and give silent thanks for the fact she had grown up far away from here. As the team made their way towards the dock itself where they had been tasked with overseeing a shipment that apparently included several high end sports cars manufactured in Mistral Gwen found her mind wandering once again, she hadn't had any reply from May and was beginning to get a little nervous, were the pictures too much? Had she done something wrong? It didn't help matters that Dew and Nebula were almost constantly flaunting their relationship, even now while on a mission Nebula's arm had found it's way around Dew's waist.

"We're here, we're just early" Nebula noted as they reached their destination, the smell of fish, smoke and sea air assaulting their nostrils

"Good, it gives us time to set up" Dew murmured "Eyes open" she extricated herself from Nebula and surreptitiously moved her hand to her thigh where her weapon was stored

"You think the White Fang might try something here?" Octavia asked, stunned that they would be so brazen. Dew shook her head

"Not the Fang, there're a lot of Faunus in this part of town but this isn't the kind of target the street gangs that fund them would hit. Which means if someone does hit it then they're operating in Fang territory and it'll get….messy" the rest of Team NDGO were left staring at their team-mate in quiet shock, they all knew that Dew Gayl was from Vulture Bay but they hadn't expected her to be able to explain the politics and logistics of gang warfare. Dew herself merely shrugged. After a few moments Octavia caught sight of a pair of familiar faces in the crowd and got her teams' attention

"Hey isn't that Nolan and Brawnz?"

"It is" Gwen confirmed "Wanna go see how they're doing?" Octavia shuffled her feet nervously

"Yeah, we're going" Nebula laughed as she and Dew placed their hands on Octavia's shoulders and prepared to frog march her "Gwen and May being love sick puppies was bad enough, we are not doing that again"

"But, but!" Octavia tried to protest as she was marched towards their classmates where, the rest of Team NDGO silently swore independently of each other _'So help me Oum she WILL talk to Nolan'._

"Ladies" Brawnz nodded in greeting as they approached, eyes darting to Gwen "How's May? I kind of assumed she talks to you more than us" Gwen noted that Nebula smirked slightly and the team leaders shared knowing glances

"I'm still waiting for a reply from her last message" she admitted quietly, Nolan was the one to speak up

"Don't worry you'll hear from her soon" he seemed to be trying not laugh for some reason, before Gwen could question him his had attention turned to her team-mate and his tone, unless Gwen was imagining things, became somewhat nervous "Hey Octavia" the farm girl gave a reply that could have been either a word or a squeak depending on how generous one was. The awkward silence between the pair whose mutual crush was painfully obvious was interrupted by Brawnz nudging his partner

"That's our boat docking now"

"You're leaving?" Octavia asked

"What and miss all this?" Nolan shot back with a smirk as he gestured to their surroundings "Nah, we're on a mission. Ship coming in from one of the fishing villages on the islands, word is there's some reinforcements inbound as well" Gwen didn't hear anything that came after that, her mind was busy connecting the pieces of information it had just received at lightning speed, reinforcements on a ship from one of the islands-

"Hey guys" a familiar voice called to them from the deck of the ship whose gangplank had yet to be lowered. Dark skinned with braided hair and saw blades mounted on his arms, Gwen recognised Roy Stallion instantly. Her heart leapt into her throat, if Roy was here then that meant-

And then she saw her. She leaned over the railings of the ship and gave her the brightest smile Gwen had ever seen, without hesitation Gwen shot towards the ship leaving Team NDGO behind with Brawnz and Nolan

"So" Brawnz chuckled as he turned to Nebula "Is it as cute as you expected?" the moment he'd read Roy's letter informing him that the missing half of Team BRNZ were coming to the mainland he'd pulled Nebula aside and arranged this little surprise for their team-mates. Nebula grinned

"Even cuter"

* * *

May stepped back as Gwen made her way onto the deck with a single Aura fuelled leap

"You look….wow" Gwen gasped out as she took in May's appearance, more sun-kissed than she'd been in Vale and if possible even more distractingly toned. May stepped forwards and gently took Gwen's hands in hers

"I've missed you so much" Gwen didn't know what came over her, one moment May was holding her hands the next Gwen had wrapped her arms around the sniper's shoulders and they were sharing an intensely passionate kiss. Gwen shuddered and whimpered as May ran a hand through her curly hair and the other found its' way to her hip. Eventually they stopped kissing but refused to break apart, their foreheads touching while they continued to hold each other. Gwen knew it was time to say something that she'd been thinking about since May's last letter

"I wanted the first time I told you to be in person" she murmured as May's arms tightened around her waist "I love you May Zedong"

 **Authors Notes:**

Okay so the appeal for this ship is pretty simple. Think about it, shy girl with a sniper rifle that lives on an island and a much more well off girl who is a dancer as well as a fighter. It's White Rose without the emotional trauma.

So to summarise:  
I always like showing the effects of the Fall of Beacon on the Kingdoms, the White Fang's involvement had to have made things worse for most Faunus (Which is probably why Adam had to be strong-armed into working with Cinder).  
Rae Straw, borrowed from my story the Downward Spiral. She's the Scarecrow to complete the theme that RT was going for with the heads.  
Vulture Bay, as I mentioned in the Death Monkey one-shot it's where Sun is from.  
I have this random Headcanon that Dew Gayl is unbelievably bad-ass.  
A drug dealing Faunus with 'Lean' in their name. Yes I went there.  
How cute are these two dorks?  
Also, sniper rifle versus throwing knives. That's almost a cliché, it's like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang's dislike of each other flipped on its' head….I know there's people that ship them. I don't have to look, I just _know_.  
Yes, Equal Exchange. Because I refuse to believe that Roy Stallion has a name so close to Roy Mustang for no reason, so I made his Semblance limited alchemy. He can turn one thing into something else.  
Octavia and Nolan are also shy dorks with crushes, because why settle for one.  
Nebula/Brawnz are 10/10 best Team Leaders/Wingmen.  
Raise you hand if you said "Awww"….Now the rest of you who haven't raised your hands. Stop lying.  
Tomorrow is the finale, It's a free day so I'll be indulging myself.

Thank you to Lucian Naruto, Merendinoemiliano, FuegoFox42, ShadowAlex2000, Crimson and ThephattestofPhils for their reviews on the last chapter.  
I don't take requests, sorry.  
Not personally a fan of the Qrow is Ruby's dad theory to be honest, it seems a little unnecessary to me. He's already a father figure to both Ruby and Yang, it doesn't need to be literal.  
The way I explained Adam and Ravens' similarities they wouldn't actually have to be related by blood. Sienna as an ex member of the tribe and Adam as her student means she could have began training him after leaving.  
I know Snowbird isn't actually that rare but I was struggling for ideas for the last prompt and it's rare enough to fit the criteria for this challenge.  
The Tribe need to be expanded on, we also need to see Sienna Khan in the flesh.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.


	7. Hot Tricks

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

 **Chapter 07: Hot Tricks**

 **Prompt – Free Day**

 **Ship – Yang Xiao Long x Reese Chloris**

Reese Chloris, despite her allegedly infinite amount of energy and enthusiasm for most things was struggling to force herself to pay attention; the voice of the old Mistrali soldier leading this unscheduled mission had faded into a dull droning in the back of her mind, as it was in her humble opinion, far too early in the morning for this kind of thing as anything before two in the afternoon on a weekend was.

"Chloris are you listening?" the snapping of the irate soldier brought her out of her daze

"Yeah" the lie proved unconvincing as it was followed by a yawn and she made no effort bothering to hide rubbing her eyes. The grizzled veteran growled and Reese fought the urge to blow raspberries at him the way she did whenever Arslan's patience with her antics wore thin. In Reese's mind the soldier had little to no jurisdiction over her or her team anyway, they were just using his craft. Many Hunters that lived within Mistral itself had relocated to other parts of Anima leaving the resources of the capital stretched thin, as the Grimm and Nomad Tribes that roamed between settlements had been far more active since the fall of Beacon. Both of them preying on the refugees that had been moving between the various settlements on the continent who hadn't had the knowledge to never stray off of the trails drilled into them since childhood. She turned away from the soldier before he could repeat himself when she heard a loud slapping sound, which turned out to be Arslan face-palming while Bolin shook his head and Nadir seemingly struggled to contain a fit of giggles

"Do you at least know what the mission is?" Arslan demanded with a sigh, Reese knew that the leader of Team ABRN didn't like flying especially not in the older craft that Mistral had in lieu of the more modern Bull-Head drop-ships of the other Kingdoms; currently the martial artist was idly fiddling with the beaded necklace filled with Dust crystal fragments she wore, a sign that she was starting to get stressed

"Yeah of course" Reese answered earnestly "Some doofus wandered into the forest, apparently they can fight 'cos they've made enough noise for a routine patrol to notice. We're acting as a search and rescue team and stopping anything spilling over into inhabited areas"

"Pretty much sums it up" the soldier leaded them grunted, clearly satisfied that despite appearances the skater appreciated the seriousness of the situation.

"Okay good" Arslan nodded "Here's how we're going to do this; you and Bolin are getting dropped directly into the forest, split up and find whoever wandered into the forest. Green flares for mission complete, red flares for medical evac. Nadir and I are going to deploy on the path and hold the line against any incoming Grimm"

"How come we're not partnering up?" Reese asked with a raised eyebrow, she and Arslan usually worked together and got results.

"My Semblance and Nadir's weapon work better in the open, it looks like it might rain soon but I don't want to risk starting a forest fire. Besides you and Bolin are more manoeuvrable" Arslan paused for a moment, seeing that their acting commander was busy speaking with the pilot she added "Besides, I'm honestly exhausted. I didn't get much sleep last night"

"Well then maybe you should spend some more time in your own bed" Reese snorted

"REESE!" Her team leader gasped

"What, I'm just giving you some words of wisdom" she smirked before delivering the punchline "Some Sage advice you could say" Arslan's eye visibly twitched, she considered Reese one of her best friends but that didn't change the fact that the smaller girl's unique mix of recklessness, hyperactivity and bad jokes sometimes drove her to insanity. She was spared having to answer by the soldier turning his attention back to them

"Okay people!" his tone suddenly a gruff bark, now Team ABRN could more easily imagine this man giving orders to soldiers that actually respected him "Pilot confirms we're approaching first drop zone. ETA ninety seconds!" Arslan gave Reese a pointed look

"You're up, Bolin will be right behind you"

"Rad" Reese noted as she put her earphones securely in place and began searching for a suitable playlist. As the guitar solo that marked the start of 'Higher Ground' by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers she grabbed her unique hover-board and waited for the blinking red light positioned next to the hatch she would be exiting the craft from. The moment the light changed to green she turned to her companions and gave them a broad smile

"Later haters" with that she gave them a peace sign while holding her board in the other hand and allowed herself to simply fall backwards. Their commanding officer rushed to the hatch to check that the maniac he'd found himself responsible for hadn't leapt to her doom; only to be simultaneously stunned, infuriated and begrudgingly impressed when he saw Reese riding the board as it fell, cheering and laughing to herself as she performed several needless tricks. He turned to the remaining members of Team ARBN and saw that Bolin was making his way to the hatch and decided he simply had to ask the question that had been nagging him since meeting the students

"How the fuck do you kids tolerate her?"

"She grows on you" Bolin sighed with a smirk "Like fungus" with that he leapt after her.

* * *

Yang's back erupted in pain as she was hurled through the trunks of several trees in an explosion of splinters and earth as planted a fist into the ground and forced herself to a stop. E landing in a crouch, brow furrowed, Ember Celica deployed and panting heavily. This was not how she was planning on starting her morning.

"Okay ugly where're you hiding" she growled to herself as she returned to her feet, and flexed the fingers of her prosthetic, wincing slightly when she noticed that the paint had been scratched and scuffed around the knuckles already.

She'd been riding towards Mistral the night before until tiredness forced her to a stop, riding while barely able to keep her eyes open was the kind of risk she wasn't willing to take. Pulling up at the side of the dirt trail that passed for a road she checked the map and realised it wouldn't be outside of the realms of possibility to simply wheel her bike to the nearest village, she could be there in a few hours. Then she realised how much Lien she actually had left and decided that she'd rather save it and ensure that she could afford to refuel; with that in mind she'd pulled the Bumblebee off of the path before climbing the tree she'd leaned it against and managing to get a few hours sleep. She'd heard about the Grimm in the forests of Anima, but in her mind the same was true of Patch and one could still walk relatively freely through the majority of the forest so the risk was minimal; She'd been proven wrong when she was woken by the sound of Beowolves snapping and snarling below as they tried to climb the tree. It was then that the battle had begun, she'd somehow managed to end up deeper in the forest as she rushed to meet wave after wave of monsters. Then her current adversary had shown itself.

There was a rustling and snap in the canopy of trees ahead and Yang rolled aside, firing her gauntlets into the space she'd occupied a faction of a second ago. The furious shriek she was rewarded with proved her guess to be correct. Turning to face the attacking Grimm she took in just how ugly the ting was. From its' snout to the tip of its' segmented and endlessly thrashing tail which ended in a cruel claw like appendage she guessed it to be around nine feet long; she'd seen it propel itself both on its' hind limbs and on all of its' limbs. The thing had eight of them. Four arms arranged in two pairs, each pair sprouting from the same oversized shoulder blade, its' lower limbs followed the same pattern; each limb longer than its' torso and deceptively strong despite their relative slenderness. Its' entire body was the liquid black common to all Grimm with chitinous armour layered over it, its' face resembled the skull of some sort of prehistoric ancestor to humans with a pronounced under bite lined with protruding fangs. Yang didn't know exactly what this particularly strain of monstrosity was called but in her head she was referring to it as a 'Giant Spider-monkey' and so far it had proved frankly, needlessly difficult to put down. It lashed out again; Yang managed to weave under the first limb, block the second, sidestep the third but then the taloned fingers of the fourth connected with her gut only to be followed by the three-pronged claw mounted on its' tail grabbing her and hurling her through the forest again. She landed with a dull thud and remained on the ground. The Grimm stalked towards her, cocking its' head as a sound that were it capable of anything above base instinct would have terrified it. Yang Xiao Long was laughing at it.

"Okay then" the blonde Huntress rose to her feet and wiped her face, the blood trickling from her nose smearing across the metallic surface of her cybernetic hand as her irises shifted from pale amethyst to angry red and her hair began to glow as if lit from within. The Grimm hissed and spat, Yang grinned

"Legs get serious, 'cos so far….I've just been monkeying around with you" she surged forwards with a roar, golden flames of pure Aura blazing around her; the Spider-monkey charged forth to meet her, the Grimm's uppermost arm reaching out to slash at Yang at the same moment she delivered a devastating punch, the Grimm's limb buckled; shattering and tearing away completely when Ember Celica discharged. Yang pressed the advantage, expertly dodging an attack from its' lower pair of arms she grabbed one of them and hurled the monstrosity through a tree in a reversal of their earlier exchange. It was a much more even battle now, the Grimm and the Huntress trading blows that shook the world around them at lightning speed before being sent crashing to the ground several meters away from each other as a stomach punch from Yang and a backhanded swipe from the Grimm connected in the same instant. As she rose to her feet, leaning against a tree for support Yang realised that this was still a fight she wasn't sure if she could win even with her Semblance in full effect; her opponent was simply too agile, with too many limbs and too much stamina; it was avoiding as many blows at it received and giving at least twice as many back in return.

"Now don't worry" she panted out, spitting out a mouthful of blood as she fixed the Grimm with a determined stare and cocky smile; she knew better than to show fear in front of the nightmares made flesh that fed on such emotions "I've got a one-liner for this….not that you'll appreciate it" the Grimm cocked its' head, a slow sibilant hiss escaping from it. As the moment dragged on with neither of them attacking another sound reached Yang's ears, growing in volume as if drawing closer. Comprehension and further confusion struck Yang in the same moment, was that singing?…. _was that a Red Hot Chilli Peppers song?_

What followed pushed even Yang's suspension of disbelief to the edge and the blonde brawler liked to think she'd seen enough to be fairly unflappable.

A blur of purple and light pale green burst from the trees above, Yang's eyes widened as she recognised the newcomer as a member of the Team that Team RWBY had bested in the tournament; Reese somersaulted in mid air, transferring the board she was riding to her hands and landing punishing kick between the Grimm's shoulders in a single fluid motion, before swinging her board at the back of its head and sending the beast crashing to the ground

"HEY UGLY! I hope you like candy!" Reese's board shifted into it's duel pistol form as she landed in a crouch behind the Grimm, as it rose to it's remaining limbs and lunged at her she delivered the punchline "'Cos you're about to get a mouthful of Reese's pieces!" the sound of rapid firing high calibre weapons filled the forest as she unloaded on the Grimm only to find that when her ammunition was depleted the ludicrously resilient creature was still standing, even if it had been forced backwards, black mist issuing from the wounds riddling its' body. With a snarl it made to pounce, before Reese could dive out of its' path the creature was brought to a halt by a golden fist exploding from its' chest. With a series of pained hacking gasps the Giant Spider-monkey expired, it's body fading away as it fell to the ground leaving Reese and Yang alone, silently taking in the others' appearance before Reese finally spoke, a teasing edge to her voice

"Hey hot stuff. Haven't seen you in a while" It took Yang a moment to realise that Reese's comment was more than just blatant flirting, her Semblance was still in effect. Exhaling slowly she caused the golden flames enveloping her to vanish and her eyes to return to their natural colour

"So you're the one that came down to the woods today and got a big surprise" the skater added, Yang snorted

"If that was a big Ursa you'd have had a great pun there" hearing this Reese treated Yang to a smile that many people had described as goofy but the blonde honestly thought was cute.

"Thanks for the assist there as well….you ended that thing, could say you caused Arm-ageddon" Reese's smile faltered when she saw Yang's eyes dart to her prosthetic "Oh my Oum, I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't mean it like-" she was cut off when she heard Yang giggling softly, before doubling over and bursting out in laughter

"Oh my gosh thank you" she managed to gasp out between chuckled "I needed that, I needed someone to not stare at it or treat me like I'm made of glass….Armageddon, good one" the two caught their breath, still smiling as the adrenaline of the fight wore off. Yang gave Reese an appreciative once over, hoping that she didn't notice; honestly Yang couldn't help it, she had an appreciation for the human form and simply found a lot of people physically attractive. She was simply put very pretty, Yang's eyes trailed up from her toned legs to the hoodie that while baggy gave vague hints to the curves beneath it then up to Reese's hair as she brushed several strands of hair out of her eyes, smudging the greasepaint below them while wearing a smile that gave Yang feelings in her stomach that she knew were nothing to do with the fading adrenalin rush. Rustling in the trees caused both of them to whip round, weapons instantly at the ready; only to lower them just as quickly when Arslan Altan stepped into view, ragged breathing suggesting she'd sprinted towards them

"Heard the shooting, abandoned the plan. Professors can be mad at me if they want" the leader of Team ABRN managed to get out between breaths before composing herself and turning her attention to Yang

"Nadir's with your bike. We'll wait for Bolin and call for extraction….I assume you're heading to Mistral?"

"Yeah" Yang nodded "I've been looking for my sister, she left Patch with some of our friends from Beacon"

"Yeah Ruby's at the academy" Reese informed her "Probably should have been the first thing I mentioned but well….distractions" she gave Yang a wink and the blonde wasn't quite sure if she was referring solely to the Grimm.

"They were brought to Haven almost two weeks ago after taking down a Nuckelavee" Arslan added "There was an older man with them, I think Ruby said that he's your uncle. He was pretty badly injured but he's rapidly recovering" Yang felt as if a weight she'd been carrying since she set off on her journey to Mistral had been lifted; knowing that Uncle Qrow had been with them eased Yang's mind substantially.

"Sweet fucking Oum Bolin don't do that!" Reese spat causing Yang to whirl around, stunned to see Bolin Hori standing beside Reese; it appeared as if he'd moved silently through the treetops and made his way down to them

"Yeah he does that" Arslan noted with an amused smile at Yang's surprise

"Okay, come on let's go. I wanna see Ruby's face when she hears her cool big sister just turned up" Reese practically bounced with her enthusiasm as she set off in the direction Arslan had arrived from, everybody else following in her wake. Arslan placed a hand on Yang's shoulder and gently pulled her back; the two blondes briefly sized each other up before Arslan broke the silence

"I saw the way you were looking at her" she murmured softly

"Oh my gosh, are we really having this talk right now?" Yang ground out, taking care not to alert Reese or Bolin to their conversation

"Yes we are, because I was under the impression that you and your partner were an item" Yang's expression darkened

"You were under the wrong impression then" she clenched her knuckles, servos in her cybernetic limb whining under the stress as she struggled to remain civil "I'd honestly prefer it if we didn't talk about Blake….She meant a lot to me, we were never a thing but still. I haven't seen her since…." Yang trailed off, indicating to her prosthetic. Arslan looked utterly disgusted

"Then she's a coward and you deserve better" she seemed to consider something for a moment before continuing "Reese wanted to ask you to the dance at Beacon but you and Blake were inseparable, when she saw you dancing together she just thought you were a _'thing'_ ". It seemed both Arslan and Reese were vastly misinformed then, Yang had actually been dating Fox Alistair at the time but since Team CFVY had been on a mission she'd spent a lot of the dance with Blake. Her relationship with Fox had ended when Yang fond herself unable to take her mind off of her partner, admitting to herself that she was slowly falling in love with Blake and deciding that Fox deserved better than to be hurt for no reason she'd ended it. Yang decided that Arslan didn't need to know any of that.

"Is this you giving me permission to date your partner?" Yang snorted, Arslan merely raised an eyebrow

"If you think she needs permission from me or anybody else to do whatever she wants then you've got a lot to learn" Arslan stared her dead in the eyes "This is me telling you that if you hurt I her I will personally make you wish we'd left you here for the Grimm."

* * *

The day following Yang's arrival at Mistral the blonde found herself sitting outside on one of the benches lining the academy's campus as the later afternoon sun began to fade while she took in the natural beauty of the place and used the time to process the various reunions and surprises she'd had in the last twenty four hours.

Chief among them had been her reunion with her sister. She and Ruby had hugged each other, both of them shedding tears of happiness and relief that the other was safe; followed by an equally heartfelt reunion with Uncle Qrow. The grizzled veteran of a Huntsman still walked with a limp and was subjected to occasional coughing fits but he assured Yang that he was fine.

The reunions were joined revelations of various kinds. The negative, Sun Wukong was currently listed as missing in action. His team suspected, or rather hoped that he'd returned to Vaccuo where his family still resided and had simply been unable to contact them. Whatever Yang's tangled mess of feelings towards Blake was and however blatant Sun's own feelings were she wished him no ill will and had been nothing but genuine when she told his team-mates that she hoped he was okay.

The positive news, Ren and Nora were dating, were currently on a date right now unless Yang was mistaken. The excitable redhead had told her that Jaune was going to help her do her hair for the occasion which Yang would be lying if she said hadn't made her _'Awww'_ at the sheer cuteness of it. Ruby and Neptune had recommenced the awkward, not-quite-dating that had been going on between them since the dance; though if the lingering looks between them and Yang's patented 'big-sister-intuition' were to be trusted the pair may have actually progressed far enough for Ruby to overcome her nervousness and admit that they were indeed a couple.

Ruby had changed. That much was undeniable and Yang was unsure how she felt about it. On the one hand she was immensely proud of how far her sister had progressed, on the other she was horrified at the circumstances that had forced her to learn so much so young. Both of these facts were coloured by the sinking realisation that maybe the sister she'd come all this way to protect didn't need her any more. Yang had been given a tour of Haven that morning after a much needed nights' sleep by Jaune and had been left stunned when they entered the gym where Ruby was facing off against Sage Ayana in a sparring match, no weapons or Semblance. Ruby had been winning. The fact that neither Jaune or anybody else saw fit to comment on this told Yang that it was just an accepted fact of this new Ruby. Yang had happily added her own cheers and encouragements to Neptune's at the time but now she was left wondering exactly what she was here for. She was dragged from her thoughts by someone whistling to get her attention, looking up she couldn't help but smile at the sight of Reese Chloris returning to the academy from wherever she'd been all day, hopping off her board and making her way over

"Hey hot stuff" she grinned as she sat next to Yang "I was expecting you to be with Ruby" Yang shrugged non-committally before sensing that Reese's eyes were still on her and deciding that getting it off of her chest couldn't hurt, and the skater was honestly easy to talk to

"I came to Mistral to find Ruby and help her with the mission she came here for, to look after her….only now I'm not sure if she even needs me"

"Pfft, she's always gonna need her rad big sister around" Reese assured her, a thoughtful look crossing her features for a moment before adding "Who else is gonna give her dating advice, Jaune?"

"So her and Neptune are a thing?" Yang grinned. _'Oh the teasing is going to be merciless'_ , Yang assured herself, she had a lot of catching up to do. Reese didn't answer immediately, instead withdrawing her Scroll and searching through her photos

"I mean I wouldn't believe 'em if they said they weren't" she laughed "Ruby and her friends just came down to breakfast one morning, nobody knew they were here. When Neptune saw her he cried, I mean legit tears of happiness cried. Look" Reese had finally found the photos she was looking for and held the device out to Yang, who gasped at the pictures of Ruby and Neptune holding onto each other in what was clearly Haven's cafeteria. Neptune picking Ruby off of the floor with tears clearly streaming down his face while Ruby's neck was buried the crook of his shoulder

"Oh my gosh" Yang's voice wavered as she silently vowed that there would in fact be no teasing of Ruby, this was just too sweet "Does she know you have this?"

"She asked me to send it" Reese confirmed "I think it's her lock-screen"

"Oh yeah, they're definitely dating" Yang and Reese shared a look before simultaneously bursting out laughing.

"Hey, erm….so I was wondering" Reese began as their laughter subsided, pale complexion tinted with a slight blush "Are you doing anything tonight?" Yang was taken aback, despite what many people assumed she was very rarely asked on dates, a lot of people were intimidated by her which led to her either having to be the one doing the asking or simply not dating

"I didn't have anything planned. I was probably gonna see what Ruby's doing….and probably end up getting smothered in hugs, I'm kinda hugged out right now" she admitted with a faint grin.

"Okay it's Sunday, you've gotta come to the Laughing Coffin" Reese exclaimed

"The what?"

"It's a little bar in the city, not everyone knows about it. But it's awesome on Saturdays they have live bands, Sunday is comedy night and they actually get some pretty big names in….you never know it might bring back your urge to hug someone" Reese added with an exaggerated wink and Yang couldn't help but chuckle at the blatant and in her mind adorable, if dorky attempt at flirting. Considering the idea she decided that honestly a night out with someone like Reese who was honest and forward about what she wanted would be a refreshing change from the various webs of lies, schemes and emotional quagmire that Beacon had been. Leaning in she gave her answer

"Okay, but only if they have Strawberry Sunrises" Reese grinned, barely able to contain her excitement at Yang agreeing to join her.

"They even have the little umbrellas"

* * *

It had been an amazing night. Yang wasn't sure whether to classify it as a date or not but it had been the most fun she'd had in months; she and Reese had laughed along with the rest of the crowd at the various stand up comedians routines before one of them, Yang couldn't even recall which had the idea to heckle with their own jokes. From that point it had officially become a challenge between the comedians and the pair of admittedly quick witted and charismatic Huntresses who were slowly but surely becoming the real stars of the show. Eventually the night had ended and Yang had offered to give Reese a ride back to Haven on the Bumblebee, the same way they'd arrived at the venue; Reese had replied with a confident smirk and an assertion that she had a better idea. Which was how the current arrangement of Yang driving at high speed through the empty streets while Reese clung to her hover-board as it was whipped around corners, connected to motorbike by a thick chain had come about. Tires screeched on wet asphalt, the heavens had finally opened moments before and the occasional bolt of lightning illuminated the way. Before long, though long enough to get thoroughly soaked they reached Haven. Yang pulled her bike to a screeching halt, smoke billowing from its' rear wheel; her expression becoming one of pure horror as she saw Reese lose her balance and be sent hurtling from her board head first into one of the benches that Yang had been occupying when the skater had met her that afternoon. Flipping the bench as she crashed into it Reese rolled to a stop beside one of the various street lights that were interspersed between the benches and Yang rushed to help her

"Oh my gosh are you okay?" Reese raised herself to her hands and knees, managing to force an answer out between coughs as she tried to inhale the wind that had been knocked out of her

"Best date ever" a bout of manic giggles overtook the skater as she rose to her feet swaying and staggering as she tried to reach Yang, who closed the distance and attempted to support her; Reese staggered again and the blonde found herself pinned against the street light, the skater's hands just above her hips as their eyes met

"I swear" Yang gave an amused sigh "You better not have done that on purpose just to try and kiss me….You could have just asked" Reese blushed scarlet and Yang's mind went blank as she took in just how beautiful her date was. Reese bit her lip before a nervous whisper escaped her.

"Can I kiss you?" Yang nodded and cupped Reese's cheek as she leaned down to meet the smaller girl. When their lips met Yang was unprepared for Reese's enthusiasm. She found herself becoming almost embarrassingly weak at the knees as her breath hitched and her fingers curled in Reese's soaked hair. Without warning Reese turned her attention to Yang's neck and the blonde's grip instinctively tightened as she shuddered and gasped; realising only when she heard Reese wince in pain that it had been her prosthetic.

"I'm so sorry" Yang mumbled, mortified and looking anywhere but at Reese

"It's fine" Reese tried to assure her "Probably not a good idea to make out in the rain all night. With your Semblance things might get….steamy" the attempt to diffuse the sudden awkwardness with laughter failed and she saw the glances Yang was giving her cybernetic limb, subconsciously holding her right arm as far away from the rest of her body as she could. Reese reached out and took the golden hand, still battle damaged from the encounter in the forest in hers and held it up to her lips, gently kissing each individual fingertip. Yang had no words to explain what the tender gesture meant to her and simply pulled her into a crushing hug, Reese's arms found their way around her waist and the pair remained like that, unsure of how much time passed before Yang spoke

"So….that was a thing" she tried to feign nonchalance. Reese nuzzled into her and held her a little tighter

"Can it keep being a thing?" Catching her meaning Yang had to think for a moment. Was she emotionally ready for a serious relationship right now? She wasn't sure. Was that what she and Reese dating would lead to? Who knew. What Yang did know was that she really wanted to feel wanted right now and the skater currently holding onto her had made her feelings towards her refreshingly unambiguous. _'And'_ Yang grinned to herself _'She does have really nice legs'_ aware that she hadn't answered she finally spoke

"I'd actually really like that" Reese almost squealed with happiness before cupping Yang's cheeks and pulling her down into another long kiss in the rain.

 **Authors Notes:**

THESE ONE-SHOTS HAVE HIT OVER 10K VIEWS ALREADY! HOW THE MOTHER-DICK?

So the idea behind this ship is Reese is basically the equivalent of Yang at Haven and if they met outside of a tournament environment they'd instantly get on. That combined with Yang's current emotional state would probably make them work. I can't imagine Reese being anything other than honest and straightforward which is exactly what Yang needs right now. She needs to know where she stands with people after seemingly everyone has left and she probably really, really wants to feel wanted.

So to summarise:  
Yeah I imagine Reese as a ball of energy and charisma, who's also basically a mix of Yang's puns and the 90s personified.  
Headcanon that relationships between Hunters and conventional military are strained at best in every Kingdom except Atlas where they're specifically trained to work together.  
Sage and Arslan reference, I still want more of that pairing.  
Okay so Reese's landing strategy, the fact she gave a cheesy one-liner before jumping and the fact she was playing 'Higher Ground' by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Which fits the colour naming rule) is actually a reference to the Power Rangers movie, not the new one. The original 90s movie, this scene /watch?v=6oAXda0dB48 (Youtube obviously).  
Okay so in my story 'The Downward Spiral' I had Spider-Monkey Grimm which were each about the size of a child and attacked in swarms of hundreds at the least. The thing Yang's fighting is a much bigger version, mainly because I was struggling for ideas. I wanted her to have something that could go hand to hand with her and settled on the Spider-Monkey because the best way to win a fist fight with Yang is 'Have more fists' and it being a monkey parallels the Ruby versus the Beringrel fight in Ruby's character short before Vol.4.  
Two Yang puns in one, it's fun to write her it really is.  
Admit it, you laughed at the Reese's pieces line.  
Seriously there needs to be another character in canon that Yang can trade puns with. All routes lead to Haven in Vol.5 so I hope Team ABRN get reintroduced and Reese is as much of a lovable dork as I want her to be.  
Bi-Yang Xiao Long.  
Arslan is the Mom Friend and will abandon a plan at a moments' notice to back up one of her team, you can't tell me different.  
Bolin Hori is the Ren of Haven, Headcanon: Accepted.  
The quick explanation for Yang and Fox's breakup ties this one-shot into the same universe as the earlier chapters. I also realised after writing this that for the Hurt/Comfort prompt I could have had Team CFVY, or Fox on his own going to patch after the Battle of Beacon to give Yang some support and some closure for things between them….then I realised I'd have been blubbering like a bitch the whole time I wrote it. (I could also have wrote Weiss and Mercury lamenting their shit Dads).  
Unrelated thought, suppose the Blind Fury ship had been canon how much more emotionally invested would we have been in Team CFVY at the end of Vol.2 (Seriously imagine the second years returning from their mission just as the first years are leaving and Fox and Yang barely getting a chance to say goodbye, then reuniting on the battlefield when Team CFVY air-dropped into the Breach).  
Yeah, whatever you ship Yang doesn't hate Sun. She'd be upset to hear he was listed as MIA.  
I will headcanon until the end of days that Jaune 'More sisters than fans can think up names for' Arc helped Nora get ready for her first date.  
Imagine Ruby bare knuckle boxing with someone Sage's size, now imagine Yang's reaction.  
Seriously, imagine Neptune's well maintained cool guy image being thrown out the window when he sees Ruby, vaults a table and runs over to her and just breaks down crying while he hugs her.  
Canonically nobody asked Yang to the dance, I refuse to believe that it was because nobody wanted to so I'm working with the idea that nobody could pluck up the courage.  
Yes the Laughing Coffin is a Sword Art Online reference, fun fact I've never watched SAO and have real desire to. I have however watched SAO abridged and it is hilarious.  
Yang would 112% try and out-joke the comedians at a comedy club.  
Also, considering that Grimm are attracted to negative emotions like Dementors in Harry Potter, I wonder how much comedians in Remnant get paid; I imagine they can charge whatever they want.  
You know everything about Yang and Reese getting flustered around each other is adorable.  
Yeah Yang is probably gonna freak out when she misjudges her own strength with the new arm at some point.  
Reese just taking the prosthetic and kissing the fingers, was there ever a more sweet moment?

Thank you to Merendinoemiliano and ShadowAlex2000 for their reviews on the last chapter.  
Yeah the joy of the tournament fodder teams is that we got so little on them (Literally names and an appearance) so their personalities can be dictated by our own theories and ideas  
I love making people ship new things.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.

Now Rare Pair Week is finished I'll be turning my attention to Vol.2 of FADE: Legacy, expect an update soon


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